Excellent news - direct action by organized Labor!
Petros
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US west coast dockworkers in 1-day strike 'over Iraq': union

Thu May 1, 2008

Around 25,000 workers at 29 ports along the western US coastline went
on strike on Thursday to demand an end to the war in Iraq, union
officials said.

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union said in a statement on
its website that longshore workers across the region had downed tools
in what it described as a one-day show of support for US troops.

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

Officials at the Port of Long Beach and Los Angeles, two of the biggest
cargo terminals, said work had ground to a standstill.

"It amounts to a 'blue flu' or a 'May Day flu,' where longshore workers
are calling in sick," spokesman Arley Baker said.

The walkout comes two months before the expiration of an existing
six-year labor agreement between the dockworkers and the Pacific
Maritime Association, which represents port operators and shippers.

Although the ILWU said the strike was a protest against the war in
Iraq, the industrial action has been viewed by analysts as a show of
strength amid ongoing contract negotiations.

Pacific Maritime Association spokesman Steve Getzug told AFP the strike
was being viewed as a leveraging tactic.

"It does seem likely to us that this is connected to the ongoing
contract negotiations," Getzug said.

However, longshore spokesman Craig Merrilees rejected suggestions that
the walkout was related to contract talks.

"Absolutely not," he said, adding that the PMA had a "seriously
distorted misappraisal of what happened today."

"The bargaining process has been moving in a positive direction
precisely because both sides are committed to reaching an agreement by
July 1st, and that commitment remains," Merrilees said.

Union leaders said the group had decided in January to call a day of
strike action on May 1. PMA officials said the strike -- in effect from
8 am to 5 pm -- had a minimal economic effect on the operation of ports
in the region.

"It's not likely to bring the US economy to its knees," Getzug said.
"But it does come at a time when people are relying on US west coast
ports operating smoothly. These kinds of stoppages aren't helpful."


From:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080502/wl_mideast_afp/uslaboriraqstrike_0805020053\
12&printer=1;



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