War protest May 1 could shut down ports

Rumors have been flying that longshore workers are going to stop work May 1 to call for the immediate, safe return of U.S. troops in Iraq.

At its Feb. 8 meeting, the longshore caucus of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) debated and adopted a resolution calling for an eight-hour stop-work meeting May 1 at ports in California, Oregon, and Washington, at which members would have a chance to speak out in opposition to the war.

ILWU represents 25,000 dock workers at ports on the West Coast and in Hawaii and Alaska. Caucus delegates are democratically elected representatives from every longshore local who set policy for the Longshore Division.

Under the ILWU contract with the employer group, the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), the union is allowed to call mandatory-attendance union meetings on the second shift, and work stops so all members from all shifts can attend. That’s a right that’s pretty much unique in the American labor movement. But to call a meeting for the first shift, during the day, requires the PMA to sign off on it. And the PMA wasn’t interested in protesting the war. In fact, they make money shipping war material.