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Dockworkers Strike Against Iraq War

West Coast ports idle for May Day in run-up to union contract talks

By Harry Kimball,  Newser Staff

Posted May 1, 2008 4:25 PM CDT
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(Newser) – In an action their union says is a protest against the war in Iraq, dockworkers from Washington to Southern California have taken May Day off, crippling West Coast port traffic, the Los Angeles Times reports. The International Longshore and Warehouse Union, whose contract is up in 2 months, was ordered by an arbitrator to show up today.

“We are supporting the troops and telling politicians in Washington that it’s time to end the war,” the union president said, as truck drivers found ports up and down the West Coast shuttered. A national retail group said businesses had planned for a slowdown around the worker’s holiday, and there would be no long-term effects, the AP reports.

A cargo ship sits docked at the Port of Tacoma as normally bustling cargo handling lanes sit empty at left.
A cargo ship sits docked at the Port of Tacoma as normally bustling cargo handling lanes sit empty at left.   (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
Security personnel watch as a truck is turned away at the closed gates at the entrance to the Port of Los Angeles.
Security personnel watch as a truck is turned away at the closed gates at the entrance to the Port of Los Angeles.   (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
Truck drivers are shown idled at the closed gates at the entrance to the Port of Los Angeles.
Truck drivers are shown idled at the closed gates at the entrance to the Port of Los Angeles.   (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
Security personnel place warning cones in front of the closed gates at the entrance to the Port of Los Angeles.
Security personnel place warning cones in front of the closed gates at the entrance to the Port of Los Angeles.   (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
Cranes at the Port of Tacoma sit idle Thursday.
Cranes at the Port of Tacoma sit idle Thursday.   (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
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Los Angeles • San Diego • port • Seattle • labor unions • labor relations • labor strike • Long Beach • Iraq war • political protest • dockworker

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