West Coast ports were shut down on Thursday as thousands of longshoremen failed to report for work, part of what their union leaders said was a one-day, one-shift protest against the war in Iraq.
Cranes and forklifts stood still from Seattle to San Diego, and ships were stalled at sea as workers held rallies up and down the coast to blame the war for distracting public attention and money from domestic needs like health care and education.
“We’re loyal to America, and we won’t stand by while our country, our troops and our economy are being destroyed by a war that’s bankrupting us to the tune of $3 trillion,” the president of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, Bob McEllrath, said in a written statement. “It’s time to stand up, and we’re doing our part today.”
About 25,000 union members are employed at 29 West Coast ports, but the protest took place only during the day shift. A spokesman for the main West Coast employers’ group, the Pacific Maritime Association, said it appeared that about 6,000 workers did not show up for work, which meant that about 10,000 containers would not be loaded or unloaded from about 30 cargo ships.
In Oakland, Calif., some truckers who said they were angry about high gas prices decided not to cross picket lines at the port.
“I got here ready to haul,” said César Lara, 41, a resident of Richmond, Calif., born in Zacatecas, Mexico. “They told me it was a picket but if I wanted to go in I could. But I’m supporting them and to end the war.”
Several drivers said truckers were planning their own nationwide work stoppage in the next several days to protest record-high gas prices and surcharges.
Port shutting down, even if only for a matter of hours, cargo delivery trucks threatening to stop hauling, if all of this were to happen all at once, a vast portion of America’s basic day to day would suddenly stop. And if the people are going to make a change- it is this kind of bold action, action that has visible consequences, that will make the people in charge of big decisions sit up and take notice.
So is this a one time thing, or the beginning of a movement of the folks stuck under the thumb of the government and big business? That remains to be seen.
Popularity: 2% [?]
