ILWU call for protest against US war in Iraq

US West Coast longshore workers plan protest against imperialist war in Iraq, Afghanistan on May 1

The International Longshore & Warehouse Union (ILWU) has announced 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 ILWU, he said, would also be calling for "wider international action" in support of the walkout with letters going to both the International Transport Workers Federation and the International Dockworkers Council in Barcelona, Spain.

"We're writing to inform you of this action ... to honour labor history and express support for the troops by bringing them home safely," Bob McEllrath, ILWU wrote, adding that the ILWU action "will send a message to Washington."

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.

The ILWU International Executive Board recently endorsed Democrat Barack Obama, citing his opposition to the war in Iraq as one of the key factors in the union's decision to call for the work stoppage.

"If we can do something so dramatic as to shut down the ports on the West Coast, I think people will realize how important" opposition to the war is, said Jack Heyman, an executive board member of San Francisco's ILWU Local 10, and a prominent antiwar activist. In 2003, Heyman and about a dozen other war protesters were arrested outside Oakland shipping facilities.

Quoted by several Bay Area media outlets, Heyman said, "The ILWU has had a legacy of opposing US imperialist wars like the one in Iraq, while supporting struggles internationally like the anti-apartheid struggle and the Cuban revolution."

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