Longshore Union to Shut Down Port On March 20 to Protest War on Iraq

Dear Sisters and Brothers:

The San Francisco longshore union voted at our last membership meeting to hold a "stop work" meeting on March 20th to protest the war in Iraq. We will demand an end to the war, an end to the occupation and the immediate withdrawal of all U.S. troops now!

This is not a "strike." We are implementing a provision within our contract that permits us to stop work once a month for a "stop work" meeting. We are trying to organize all ports on the U.S. West Coast to take the same action as Local 10. If they decide to follow our lead, it will send a powerful working class message to the warmongers in Washington that we don't support imperial wars like the one in Iraq.

We used this same tactic successfully in 1999 to shut down West Coast ports to demand freedom for framed black political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal. Longshoremen in Los Angeles last month used their "stop work" meeting to mobilize support for the striking grocery workers in Southern California.

We hope this action by U.S. longshore workers will help put an end to the needless slaughter in Iraq.

In solidarity,

Jack Heyman,
ILWU Local 10

Longshore Workers to Shut Down All Bay Area and Oregon Ports on March 20 on the Occasion of the Global Day of Action against the War and Occupation. Their demand: "Bring the Troops Home Now!"
 
No ships will be loaded or unloaded in Bay Area ports on March 20th, as International Longshore & Warehouse Union Local #10 holds a stop-work meeting to protest the US war and occupation of Iraq. Longshore workers in Oregon have also refused to move cargo on that day, in solidarity with the Global Day of Action against war and occupation.
 
In San Francisco, the ILWU Drill Team and contingent will lead the march from Dolores Park to Civic Center on Saturday, March 20, 2004.
 
Behind them will be the rest of the Labor Contingent, which is gathering at 11 a.m. at Dolores Park (18th St.& Dolores), just uphill from the small building housing the public rest rooms, in the middle of the park, for the opening rally. The march steps off about noon from Dolores to a 1 pm rally at Civic Center, Polk & Grove Streets, San Francisco
 
The ILWU will hold their stop-work meeting at 8 a.m. at their hall at 400 North Point, and school buses will take the ILWU members to Dolores Park for the march. Buses will be driven by school bus drivers from United Transportation Union #1741, who are donating their labor as a contribution to the march and anti-war effort.
 
The California Federation of Teachers have their annual convention this weekend in Los Angeles, and many of their members from all over the state will be marching in L.A. Saturday against the war and occupation. Last year, as the war in Iraq was beginning, the CFT marched out of their convention onto Market Street to join one of the biggest anti-war marches of 2003.