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Subject: Why Workers Should Uphold Right Not To Talk To FBI
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Why Workers Should Uphold Right Not To Talk To FBI
************************************************************************
from the Militant, vol.60/no.36                         October 14, 1996

   
   The article below is reprinted without changes from the 
May 16, 1986, Militant. It appeared in that issue with the same 
headline and accompanying graphic. It is relevant to efforts by 
opponents of U.S. policy toward Cuba today to protest 
harassment by federal agents and defend democratic rights. 
Author Jeff Jones is now a member of the International 
Association of Machinists in Minneapolis. Sam Manuel is a 
member of the United Transportation Union in Washington, D.C.


BY JEFF JONES 
AND SAM MANUEL
   SAN JOSE - Last November Don Bechler was hauled in by plant 
security at Westinghouse to face interrogation by an FBI agent. 
The agent said he was being investigated for in-plant 
"sabotage." He was grilled for 40 minutes without a lawyer 
present, which is his legal right. He also did not have his 
shop steward with him.
   Bechler is active in the anti-apartheid movement and the 
fight against U.S. intervention in Central America. He is also 
a union activist and a member of the Socialist Workers Party.
   This questioning by the FBI was not only a violation of 
Bechler's democratic fights, but the rights of everyone who has 
a dissenting point of view, as well as an attack on the union. 
Charges of "sabotage" against workers in plants that make 
military hardware are part of the employers' and government's 
sustained offensive against democratic fights. This is why it 
is useful to look at what happened at Westinghouse and the 
lessons of that experience.
   Westinghouse is a major producer of military hardware. The 
plant is in Sunnyvale, California. The production workers are 
represented by International Association of Machinists Local 
565. Bechler is a bench grinder.
   The FBI agent had Bechler's personal notebook, which Bechler 
thought he had lost. The agent said that plant security had 
given it to him.
   After Bechler agreed to talk with the FBI, the agent asked a 
number of questions about the notebook. It had notes about 
work, shopping lists, and information on various political 
activities Bechler is involved in.
   The FBI agent told Bechler that he thought potential 
saboteurs in the plant included unionists who opposed 
concessions to the company in the recent contract negotiations. 
Some workers may have been frustrated that there wasn't a 
strike, the agent said, and therefore decided to commit 
sabotage.
   After the grilling, the FBI agent refused to return 
Bechler's notebook - implying that he remained under 
investigation. At a union meeting 11 days later, it was 
reported that another worker had been subjected to a similar 
interrogation by the FBI. Union leaders stressed that members 
should always demand a shop steward when meeting with the 
company.
   Under pressure from the union, the FBI has since returned 
Bechler's notebook.
   This harassment by the FBI represents a serious attack on 
the democratic rights of Bechler, the union, and all working 
people. The FBI has no legal right to walk into a plant, roam 
around, and begin interrogating workers. And workers, as well 
as others, are under no legal obligation to voluntarily submit 
to such questioning.
   The FBI, like all other cop agencies in this country, serves 
and protects big business and its government. When they enter 
Westinghouse or other plants it is on the side of the company.
   This attack on democratic rights occurs in the context of 
the employers' antilabor offensive and drive toward war in 
Central America. Such assaults go hand in hand.
   As the government gears up for war abroad, it must erode 
democratic rights at home. The aim is to get workers to accept 
as normal such things as growing restrictions on security 
clearances, denying the rights of accused persons to be 
released on bail, having more cops in the plants questioning 
workers, and developing an atmosphere of suspicion against 
workers who buy socialist publications or travel to Nicaragua.
   It is part of the government's concerted effort to change 
workers' perception of what's "normal." Each blow to democratic 
rights weakens the ability of the labor movement to defend 
itself against austerity and fight U.S. intervention abroad.
   In the last period the government has concocted a series of 
highly publicized trials of accused "spies" - the greatest 
number of espionage cases at any one time in the history of the 
country.
   These "spy" trials and charges of industrial sabotage are 
aimed at dividing and intimidating workers. While initial 
targets tend to be politically active workers, the ultimate 
victims are all workers and working farmers. The aim is to 
sharply limit democratic rights and limit political discussion 
and debate in order to dragoon workers into war.
   One aspect of the employers' anti-democratic drive is 
seeking to establish the "right" of the FBI and other cop 
agencies to enter workplaces and interrogate workers. Among the 
ways in which the FBI and cops justify their intrusion is the 
alleged need to defend "national security" by stopping 
"saboteurs" and cracking down on "drug use."
   By agreeing to talk to an agent, a worker falls into the 
trap that has been set: the act of talking itself is a form of 
collaboration with the agent. This is true regardless of 
whether a shop steward is present or not. Although Bechler 
denied the charges of sabotage, the fact that he talked to the 
agent had already caused damage to workers' rights. The content 
of what a worker says in such a situation is not the key 
problem. The agreement to cooperate - talk - when not legally 
compelled to, means the cops scored a victory.
   The goal of the FBI in these circumstances is not to get a 
worker to say something "damaging" - that's just a bonus for 
them when that happens - but to get the worker to accept and 
help establish their "right" to engage in such interrogations. 
This reinforces the lie that cops stand above struggles between 
workers and bosses and in that sense are neutral. It helps 
reinforce one of the most elementary forms of class 
collaboration: actions based on the illusion that the cops are 
neutral, that they are simply enforcing the law without fear or 
favor.
   Moreover, it breaks down trust between workers. A precedent 
is set that it is okay to talk to the FBI and their finks when 
instead workers should have nothing to do with them.
   Bechler had no legal obligation to talk to the FBI. He in 
essence gave up his, rights by doing so. And, whatever he did 
say is now potential material to be used against him, the 
union, and others regardless of his intentions. There is no 
such thing as an off-the-record talk with cops.
   Under the Constitution and Bill of Rights, no one is ever 
obligated to voluntarily speak to a cop - FBI, CIA, 
immigration, city, state, customs.
   The accompanying reprint of a 1950s statement issued by the 
National Emergency Civil Liberties Committee explains one's 
rights in relation to the FBI: "The FBI, unlike courts and 
grand juries, does not have the power of subpoena of compulsory 
examination. You may decline an invitation to visit FBI agents 
or to receive them in your home or office.... The use of 
investigative power by governmental agencies to intimidate or 
threaten is expressly forbidden by law."
   In other words, one is never legally obligated to 
voluntarily engage in conversation with the FBI and other cop 
bodies.
   Looking back on what happened to him and the union, Bechler 
commented: "Once I started talking to them, they had me. I let 
them establish their `right' to even hold such conversations.
   "The fact that the union stood up for me and forced the FBI 
to return my notebook was a victory. It showed that it is 
possible to resist FBI violations of democratic rights.
   "The basic lesson to draw from this experience, however, is: 
never, under any circumstance voluntarily talk to the FBI or 
any other cop."

   Jeff Jones is a member of International Association of 
Machinists Local 565. Sam Manuel is the organizer of the San 
Francisco branch of the Socialist Workers Party.


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