seattle indymedia center

West Coast Cargo Traffic Halted

author: Laury Kenton
May 01, 2008 11:12

May Day -- West Coast cargo traffic has come to a halt as port workers stage daylong anti-war protests. 26,000 dockworkers did not show up to work Thursday morning, leaving ships and truck drivers idle at ports from Long Beach to Seattle.

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union declared an eight-hour strike to protest the war in Iraq. Since the ILWU controls every port along the U.S. Pacific Coast, including Seattle and Tacoma, this strike demonstrates the collective power of workers willing to use it. The Union passed an antiwar resolution to stop work in all U.S. West Coast ports for 8 hours to protest the Democrats' and Republicans' continuing to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Seattle’s ILWU Local 19 endorsed an anti-war march along the waterfront. Fliers for the march read “No Peace - No Work.” The rally called for an end to the war and highlighted the struggles of workers.

One of the speakers at the rally read a message sent by longshoremen in Iraq expressing support for the West Coast strike.

In Tacoma, America in Solidarity, a workers’ advocacy group, hosted an evening program focusing on effects of the Iraq War on working families. The event was followed by a candlelight vigil.

Additional May Day 2008 Stories:

Report Back From the Seattle ILWU May Day March
Report Back from the Seattle May Day Immigrant March
VIDEO-No Peace No Work

add a comment on this article