I am no Economist, but it must have cost them Millions if not Billions Of dollars in profits. Poor babies. This move by the Long Shore Men of the West coast is a Masterstroke. It is a way we can all become soldiers in this battle of freedom vstotalitarian rule.

Here is a Weapon of mass destruction that is discriminatory, it will not kill baby’s or innocent men and women, it will just destroy the thinking that they have the Power and we don’t. It demonstrate the true Power of the American People and brings the Power Elite to their knees. Why have an armed rebellion when just not showing up for work a few times can make your point quicker and easier with out the loss of life or the shame of Martial Law.

I propose, That we all work to bring off a 30 minuet “Work stoppage” preceded by a news conference explaining that it is just the first of a planed series of Work Stoppages each a bit longer in duration than the last until we have their attention. Once the Mouse Roars the Pussy cat will back off. We can show them and our selves the true Power of a Free Nation. Then we can weed out the trash and put this country back on the right track.

Wow:

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) made good on its threat to stage a virtual strike on May Day, effectively shutting down all U.S. and Canadian West Coast ports. The one-day “work-stoppage,” said ILWU officials, is to protest the war in Iraq and comes at a time when the union is in the middle of contract talks with the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA).

For shippers, however, the event may signal that more trouble lies ahead. “Longshore workers are standing-down on the job and standing up for America,” said ILWU president Bob McEllrath. “We’re supporting the troops and telling politicians in Washington that it’s time to end the war in Iraq.”…read on

There’s also a march planned.

On May Day 2008, longshore workers and other trade unionists will join together in a march starting at 10:30 AM at Mason St. & Beach St. and will rally at the Justin Herman Plaza. They will also join with the immigrant rights marchers. At 6:00 PM there will be a potluck at ILWU Local 34 which is located at 2nd St and Embarcadero next to the AT&T ball park.

LOS ANGELES – 03/14/08 – The International Longshore & Warehouse Union (ILWU) has said the 40,000-plus members of its 60 locals in California, Washington and Oregon will walk off the job for eight hours on May 1 to protest the US-led war effort in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The decision to go ahead with the walkout was communicated to the AFL-CIO and Change to Win – two national labor organizations representing most US union workers – in a letter from ILWU president, Robert McEllrath.

The ILWU, he said, would also be calling for a “wider international action” in support of the walkout.

SNIP

Employers and port authorities at 29 sea ports from San Diego to Seattle have been notified with the work stoppage scheduled for the day shift. Ports in Hawaii and Canada will not be affected, McEllrath said.
ILWU Local 10 Notice

The Resolution by the International Longshore & Warehouse Union
http://tinyurl.com/35apbp

The following resolution was adopted by the ILWU at its Pacific Coast Longshore Caucus:
ILWU resolution: For Workers’ Action to Stop the War

WHEREAS: On May 1, 2003, at the ILWU Convention in San Francisco resolutions were passed calling for an end to the war and occupation in Iraq; and

WHEREAS: ILWU took the lead among labor unions in opposing this bloody war and occupation for imperial domination; and

WHEREAS: Many unions and the overwhelming majority of the American people now oppose this bipartisan and unjustifiable war in Iraq and Afghanistan but the two major political parties, Democrats and Republicans continue to fund the war; and

WHEREAS: Millions worldwide have marched and demonstrated against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan but have been unable to stop the wars; and

WHEREAS: ILWU’s historic dock actions, 1) like the refusal of Local 10 longshoremen to load bombs for the military dictatorship in Chile in 1978 and military cargo to the Salvadoran military dictatorship in 1981; and 2) the honoring of the Teachers Union antiwar picket May 19, 2007 against SSA in the port of Oakland — stand as a limited but shining example of how to oppose these wars; and

WHEREAS: The spread of war in the Middle East is threatened with U.S. air strikes in Iran or possible military intervention in Syria or the destabilized Pakistan; therefore be it

RESOLVED: That it is time to take labor’s protest to a more powerful level of struggle by calling on unions and working people in the U.S. and internationally to mobilize for a “No Peace, No Work Holiday” May 1, 2008 for 8 hours to demand an immediate end to the war and occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan and the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the Middle East; and further be it

RESOLVED: That a clarion call from the ILWU be sent with an urgent appeal for unity of action to the AFL-CIO, the Change to Win Coalition and all of the international labor organizations to which we are affiliated to bring an end to this bloody war once and for all. — Adopted by the ILWU Longshore Caucus, meeting in San Francisco, California, February 8, 2008

San Francisco Letter Carriers on May Day and the War

RESOLVED: That Branch 214 of the National Association of Letter Carriers, representing 2,700 letter carriers in the San Francisco Bay Area, request that carriers in all carrier stations observe 2 minutes of silence at 8:15 AM on May Day — May 1st, 2008 — in honor of International Workers Day and in solidarity with the ILWU longshore workers’ action in stopping work in all West Coast ports for 8 hours on May Day, to express our opposition to the war in Iraq.

— Adopted by NALC Branch 214, meeting in San Francisco March 5, 2008, by unanimous vote.