Saga of the Neptune Jade, by Ellen Starbird
The British crown thought Namibia would best remain unfree
But British dockers went on strike in solidarity
So the docks were privatized and the workers they were fired
And the Neptune Jade was loaded by the scabs they newly hired
The Bosses thought the Oakland union would not interfer
A no strike, no picket contract stops disruption there!
But Laney students picketed the docks to the Neptune Jade's dismay
And retirees joined the picket, kept the scab cargo at bay, sayin'
CHORUS:
Set Sail, Set Sail, Oh, Neptune Jade, you will not anchor here.
You can travel round the globe with your cargo in your hold
But you will not unload here!
Set sail, set sail, oh, Neptune Jade! You might as well stand clear.
Till the lads you reinstate, we won't unload your freight. No
you needn't anchor here!
Bosses said, "You Oakland stevedores can easily push by
those schoolgirls picketing your docks", but the stevedores just smiled
Sayin' "An Injury to One is an Injury to All!"
"It's a health and safety issue boys, we're back to the union hall!"
CHORUS
The court sided with the bosses, the cargo to unload
"Striking workers can be fired!", Oakland dockers they were told
The Labor Party took the picketing up on day number two
And the dockers swore that they were just to ornry to get through
The Oakland P.M.A. dock bosses just could not believe
That community supporters could have them so stymied
The point of cutting workers up by nationality
Is to undermine their rights if they don't show unity
CHORUS
The picketing in Oakland was by day and night I'm told
Berth fees were racking up, cargo rotting in her hold
The Liverpool dock bosses saw they would not get their way
So they set out on day four for the San Francisco bay
Well the Frisco dockers told 'em, "Don't even bother here.
We have lost wages now in then over many of these years
Refusing to unload to stop apartheid, genocide.
You can't buy a stevedore, with a day's wages for his pride"
CHORUS
So the ship went to Vancouver it's cargo to unload
But likewise there the dockers they turned the pay down cold
Not a cargo box was altered when the Pacific too was crossed
At Yokahoma and Kobe, Japan the Neptune Jade was lost.
The Neptune Jade's in anchor now, her cargo in her hold
You can buy her for a song in Hong Kong's port I'm told
But if you use her to bust unions, race baiting even worse
Name her the Flying Dutchman, and hear everywhere this curse:
CHORUS