Locked-out members of International Longshore and Warehouse Union made up the largest contingent from organized labor at Portland’s May Day march and rally May 1. The event drew a diverse crowd of several hundred participants, with a prominent showing from immigrant workers and members of the Industrial Workers of the World. Other unions sporting banners were Amalgamated Transit Union Local 757 and Iron Workers Local 29.
The mix is well in keeping with the origins of the celebration, which is observed around the world as International Workers Day. May Day was chosen to commemorate a rally in Chicago’s Haymarket Square that took place during an 1886 general strike for the eight-hour day. Chicago police had killed several Irish immigrant strikers, and were attempting to break up the rally organized by anarchist trade union leaders when a bomb was thrown at police and they opened fire on demonstrators.
Though today bullets are rarely used on demonstrators in the United States, Portland’s May Day events have sometimes seen arrests and tensions with police. This year, ILWU members rattled the police when they broke away from the permitted march route and briefly occupied an entryway to Wells Fargo tower, where United Grain is headquartered. ILWU is in a labor dispute with United Grain, and members have been locked out of its Vancouver grain terminal since Feb. 27, 2013.
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