News Briefs
West Coast port workers strike for one shift to protest war
May 22, 2008 5:07 PM
Cargo traffic at 29 ports from San Diego to Seattle was halted on May 1 as the 25,000-member independent International Longshore and Warehouse Union staged an eight-hour work stoppage to demand the Bush administration end the war in Iraq. In several cities, dockworkers joined anti-war demonstrations.
The employers group, the Pacific Maritime Association, warned the ILWU leadership that an “unauthorized” strike was illegal, and an arbitrator backed the employers, but tens of thousands of workers defied management anyway.
“Big foreign corporations that control global shipping aren’t loyal or accountable to any country,” said Bob McEllrath, the ILWU’s international president. “But longshore workers are different. We’re loyal to America, and we won’t stand by while our country, our troops, and our economy are destroyed by a war ... We are supporting the troops and telling politicians in Washington that it’s time to end the war in Iraq.”
The union’s “No Peace, No Work” campaign was coordinated with worker-led shutdowns at the Iraqi ports of Umm Qasr and Khor Al Zubair. Iraqi workers are prohibited from organizing, the legacy of a 1987 Hussein regime edict, and one the U.S. occupying authority continues to enforce.
While the employers association disparaged the action, saying it was tied to coming contract bargaining, a union spokesperson responded that the union is on record opposing Iraq war funding and supporting a reduced military budget.
Associated Press, May 1
San Francisco Bay Guardian, May 7
Los Angeles Times, May 2
