How Very “Soviet Workers’ Party” Of Them On May Day
West Coast Ports Closed By Worker Protest …
LOS ANGELES - Ports along the U.S. West Coast, including the country’s busiest port complex in Los Angeles, shut down on Thursday as some 10,000 dock workers went on a one-day strike to protest the war in Iraq, port and union officials said.
Twenty-nine ports from San Diego to Washington state that handle more than half of U.S waterborne trade ground to a halt, but shipping experts said the economic costs of the walk-out would be limited.
“We are hearing there is no activity taking place up and down the West Coast,” said Steve Getzug, spokesman of the Pacific Maritime Association, which represents all 29 ports. “There is no unloading or loading.”
At the Los Angeles-area port of Long Beach, a hub for trade with Asia, a Reuters reporter said the normally bustling area was unusually quiet and there were no signs of protesters.
Long Beach Port terminal operators expect union workers to return for the second shift beginning at 6:00 p.m. PDT (9:00 p.m. EDT/0100 GMT on Friday).
Paul Bingham, an economist with Global Insight, which tracks container volume and congestion at U.S. ports, said labor officials had alerted shippers and carriers.
“If this had come as a surprise it would have been a lot more serious in its impact,” said Bingham, also noting that it was not peak season for shipping.
“This isn’t like the West Coast port lockout in 2002 when we shut down the ports for 10 days,” he added.
The International Longshore and Warehouse Union said some 10,000 workers joined the anti-war protest, spurred in part by its belief that big shipping companies are profiting from the war.
“Longshore workers are standing down on the job and standing up for America,” said ILWU International President Bob McEllrath. “We’re supporting the troops and telling politicians in Washington that it’s time to end the war in Iraq.”
‘LEVERAGE CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS’
But port officials cast doubts over the war protest motive.
PMA’s Getzug said the action came two months prior to the expiration of the current labor agreement.
“Today’s actions raised the question of whether this was an attempt to leverage contract negotiations,” he said in a statement.
He added that the work stoppage was illegal under the PMA’s contract with the ILWU.
It was not clear how many ships or containers were affected by the longshore workers action. But the PMA said that on a typical weekday shift between 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. about 10,000 containers are moved on the West Coast.
Arly Baker, spokesman for the Port of Los Angeles, said 15 ships were to arrive at the port on Thursday and about half of them had arrived and berthed before the work stoppage began for the day.
“What this amounts to is probably the same effect of an official holiday where the terminals shut down,” Baker said. “There won’t be a backup in cargo or some kind of bottleneck resulting from it.”
Together, the neighboring ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach handle 43 percent of the container cargo imports, including most of the household goods shipped from China.
The two ports bring in about $1 billion of cargo daily, Baker said.
(Reuters)
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Don’t worry about these pussies, the port of LA has have little work for the union members
for over 7 months!! the amount of product is much lower that it was about 2 years ago
tones of what they call casuals at 20 30 40 $$ an hour can’t get 8 hours a week at this point. SO it’s been quiet for over 7 months, I know I live at the port of LA in Pedro.
protest the war in Iraq??? silly
May 1st, 2008 at 1:30 pmFUCK THE UNION WHORES!
What a load of bullshit, they walked off because they could drunk by 11 am.
Protesting the Iraq War? my ass. fucking unpatriotic bitches with sore knees from kneeling before their corrupt union bosses.
May 1st, 2008 at 1:32 pmWell, I guess they are going to have an even tougher day tomorrow when they have to unload double the normal number of containers. Good thinking guys.
May 1st, 2008 at 1:35 pmThis should be a blaringly obvious example of how un American the unions in this country really are.
And if they really wanted to send a message to Washington, they’d take off for a month. 1 day’s worth of protest won’t even be noticed, let alone cause any changes.
What a bunch of morons!
May 1st, 2008 at 1:39 pm
GregGS: I hope your right because I tired of the “cut and run” sons-a-bitches 
May 1st, 2008 at 1:40 pmlove the spirit hate the issue…pretty certain its illegal
May 1st, 2008 at 2:12 pmI am generally pro-union, but for a union to strike as protest to the war in Iraq, well, fuck them. Its the unions job to take care of the worker, not protest wars it may not like. Especially if this had any effect on the war effort, if it did, which I’m sure it didn’t but if it did, some people really do deserve to be shot.
May 1st, 2008 at 2:32 pmDitto Remember Our Fathers. I used to be a union member and my pops still teaches apprentice electricians. I gotta say, after hearing this, I will never honor a union picket line again. The war in Iraq has nothing to do with working conditions, benefits or any other things that a union is supposed to do. Pathetic. I hope they all lose their jobs and go hungry.
May 1st, 2008 at 3:05 pmThis is one of the reason the political establishment has move to the open border/ NAU. They are trying to replace these Union members with a massive port on the west coast of Mexico.
May 1st, 2008 at 3:14 pmI received a gift cup of May-Day candy today from my apartment managers. I can’t believe that they don’t realize the Marxist origins of this “holiday”. “Workers of the World, Unite!” (blah blah blah).
Shame on them and anyone else who celebrates May Day.
May 1st, 2008 at 3:54 pmIt’d be nice to find out the feelings of most of the union members on this one. I’m a teacher and I despise the left wing crap that spews from the teachers’ unions. This wasn’t the workers, it was the Communist criminals at the top who pocket the dues who called for this. Typical Bolshevik bullspit. “Some animals are more equal than others.” In addition, like me, these guys don’t have much choice when it comes to union dues. This was meaningless.
May 1st, 2008 at 8:14 pm