1.

L.A. Now

THIS JUST IN: THOUSANDS OF DOCK WORKERS STAY HOME, WEST COAST PORTS SHUT DOWN
By Veronique de Turenne

Los Angeles Times
May 1, 2008

https://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2008/05/this-just-in-th.html

All 29 ports on the West Coast, including the ports of Los Angeles and
Long Beach, have been effectively shut down this morning as thousands
of dockworkers stayed home to protest the Iraq war. The walkout comes
two months before the contract between dockworkers and and port
operators expires. Louis Sahagun has the story:

"'We are supporting the troops and telling politicians in Washington
that it's time to end the war in Iraq,' union president Bob McEllrath
said.

"McEllrath, whose comments came in a press
release handed out by union officials in the Port of Los Angeles area,
said rank-and-file members decided in early January to stand down on
May 1.

"The dockworkers' action also affected
ports in Oakland, Seattle, and San Diego, and was expected to last
between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. The dockworkers do virtually all the work
involved in loading and unloading freight between ships and the port,
handling containers brimming with toys, clothing, computers, and
automobiles."

Big rigs headed for the ports are
being turned away at the terminal gates. That's a guard at the TREPAC
terminal in San Pedro, keeping traffic from entering.

2.

MAY DAY HOLIDAY FOR PUGET LONGSHORE WORKERS

Associated Press
May 1, 2008

https://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420ap_wa_port_shutdown.html

SEATTLE -- The ports of Seattle and Tacoma are idle while longshore workers take off for May Day.

Port of Seattle spokeswoman Charla Skaggs and Port of Tacoma spokesman
Mike Wasem (WHAS'-em) say it's really an issue between the longshore
union and the association that manages terminals on the West Coast, the
Port Management Association.

Wasem says no work was expected Thursday and May Day is considered a holiday by many workers.

A union spokeswoman in Portland, Jennifer Sargent of the International
Longshore and Warehouse Union, says more than 25,000 longshore workers
at 29 West Coast ports are standing down to call for an end to the war
in Iraq.

3.

ARBITRATOR ORDERS UNION TO TELL WEST COAST DOCKWORKERS THEY CAN'T SKIP WORK FOR WAR PROTEST

Associated Press
May 1, 2008

https://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/05/01/business/NA-GEN-US-Port-Labor.php

LOS ANGELES -- An arbitrator ordered the union that represents dockworkers at West
Coast ports to tell its members they must report to work on Thursday
and not take the day off to protest U.S. military conflicts in Iraq and
Afghanistan.

A wide enough walkout could cause a slowdown at the West Coast ports -- the major U.S. gateway for cargo from the Far East.

Coast Arbitrator John Kagel issued his decision Wednesday after holding
a hearing by phone with the employers' group, the Pacific Maritime
Association, and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union,
according to a document outlining the ruling.

The
union previously asked employers to clear the way for members to skip
out on the day shift to protest the war, but the employers refused the
request -- a decision backed by the arbitrator last week.

Despite that decision, word continued to spread on the Internet in
recent days of a May 1 walkout by longshore workers and details of
protests, including a march in San Francisco. Thursday coincides with
May Day, when workers traditionally celebrate the labor movement.

Employers went back to the arbitrator Wednesday, armed with accounts of
dockworkers at ports in San Francisco, Seattle, and other ports telling
supervisors that they would not be showing up to work.

Kagel was persuaded by the employers' case, and declared that any
unilateral walkout by longshore workers would violate the union's labor
contract.

Union spokesman Craig Merrilees said
the union was complying with the contract, but he declined to specify
whether it had taken steps to order members to report to work as the
arbitrator ordered.

"The decision by members to
take a day off work on May 1 to protest the war is their right under
the U.S. Constitution and it's about time that citizens stood up to
tell the truth about the need to end the war," he said.

Steve Getzug, a spokesman for the marine terminal operators and ocean
cargo carriers, accused the union of secretly encouraging members to go
ahead with an illegal walkout.

"Staging a
coordinated work action violates the waterfront labor contract and
comes at a time when the union has pledged to not have any disruptions
while a new contract is being negotiated," Getzug said. "Any disruption
at the ports works against the interests of millions of Americans whose
jobs are directly or indirectly tied to the movement of cargo."

Labor contract talks between the union and the employers began in March. The current six-year contract expires July 1.

Merrilees stressed that plans by some members to skip work Thursday was not related to the contract talks.

"This is not a part of the negotiations, which have been moving in a generally positive direction," he said.

The contract covers some 25,000 longshore workers at 29 ports in the states of California, Oregon, and Washington.

Merrilees said it was impossible for him to estimate how many dockworkers might not show up for work Thursday.

In 2002, longshore workers across the West Coast were locked out for 10
days over a contract dispute. The shutdown cost the nation's economy an
estimated $1 billion to $2 billion a day.

4.

ANTIWAR PROTESTERS HOPE TO SHUT DOWN PORT OF OAKLAND TODAY

Bay Area News Group
May 1, 2008

https://www.mercurynews.com/valley/ci_9118552

A group of protesters have gathered at the Port of Oakland today in an
effort to convince rail workers to join an anti-war port shutdown.

Picket lines were set up at work entrances for Union Pacific workers
who move all the railway freight containers to and from the Oakland
port early this morning.

About 30 protesters are
currently stopping container trucks to talk to workers from United
Transportation Union Local 239 in an effort to prevent them from
entering the rail yard on Middle Harbor Road.

Direct Action to Stop the War, which organized the rally, is calling on
workers from Local 239 to join with the ILWU longshoremen (dock
workers) and the antiwar movement and not work today.

An arbitrator on Wednesday ordered the union that represents
dockworkers at West Coast ports to tell its members they must report to
work today and not take the day off to protest U.S. military conflicts
in Iraq and Afghanistan.

A wide enough walkout
could cause a slowdown at the West Coast ports -- the nation's major
gateway for cargo from the Far East.

Coast
Arbitrator John Kagel issued his decision after holding a hearing by
phone with the employers' group, the Pacific Maritime Association, and
the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, according to a
document outlining the ruling.

The union
previously asked employers to clear the way for members to skip out on
the day shift to protest the war, but the employers refused the request
-- a decision backed by the arbitrator last week.

Despite that decision, word continued to spread on the Internet in
recent days of a May 1 walkout by longshore workers and details of
protests, including a march in San Francisco. Today coincides with May
Day, when workers traditionally celebrate the labor movement.

Employers went back to the arbitrator Wednesday, armed with accounts of
dockworkers at ports in San Francisco, Seattle, and other ports telling
supervisors that they would not be showing up to work.

Kagel was persuaded by the employers' case, and declared that any
unilateral walkout by longshore workers would violate the union's labor
contract.

Union spokesman Craig Merrilees said
the union was complying with the contract, but he declined to specify
whether it had taken steps to order members to report to work as the
arbitrator ordered.

"The decision by members to
take a day off work on May 1 to protest the war is their right under
the U.S. Constitution and it's about time that citizens stood up to
tell the truth about the need to end the war," he said.

5.

Ocean cargo

ILWU SHUTS DOWN WEST COAST PORTS IN WAR PROTEST
By Patrick Burnson

Logistics Management
May 1, 2008

https://www.logisticsmgmt.com/article/CA6556680.html?industryid=48468

SAN FRANCISCO -- The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) made good on its
threat to stage a virtual strike on May Day, effectively shutting down
all U.S. and Canadian West Coast ports. The one-day “work-stoppage,”
said ILWU officials, is to protest the war in Iraq and comes at a time
when the union is in the middle of contract talks with the Pacific
Maritime Association (PMA).

“We are very
disappointed and angry about the event,” PMA spokesman, Steve Getzug,
told LM today. “It comes after repeated assurances that only a few
dockworkers would participate, and that the union would not encourage a
mass walk out.”

Despite such promises, said
Getzug, there is substantial evidence that union leadership mandated
the action. Meanwhile, he said, the PMA would proceed “in good faith”
to get a new six-year contract signed with the union before its July 1
deadline expires.

For shippers, however, the event may signal that more trouble lies ahead.

“Longshore workers are standing-down on the job and standing up for
America,” said ILWU president Bob McEllrath. “We’re supporting the
troops and telling politicians in Washington that it’s time to end the
war in Iraq.”

According to McEllrath, the union notified the PMA, “but it refused to accommodate the union’s request.”

The ILWU represents 25,000 dockworkers on the Pacific coast and has
staged political protests similar to this one for much of its storied
history. The transport disruption, this time though, is happening when
many shippers have already decided to source goods using an “all-water”
route via the Suez Canal, and call U.S. East Coast ports instead.

Industry analysts have suggested that the unreliable and unstable labor
force here may influence the long-term shipping and sourcing strategies
of U.S. manufacturers and growers.