Another port blockade planned

Planned action on Dec.12 could affect entire West Coast

Adapted from an article by Cecily Burt of the Bay Area News Group

The Port of Oakland is girding for another blockade on Dec. 12, six weeks after a Nov. 2 general strike coordinated by Occupy Oakland shut down the port overnight.

The planned Dec. 12 economic action is expected to affect all West Coast ports as Occupy movements in Los Angeles, San Diego, Oakland, Portland, Seattle and Tacoma have so far voted to join the demonstration.

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union is not sanctioning the strike, but historyhas shown that will not stop individual members from supporting the blockade by refusing to work.

Isaac Kos-Read, director of external affairs at the Port of Oakland said the port is working with all its partners--business, government and law enforcement--to prevent any disruption in the flow of goods to and from the port.

The Dec. 12 action was hatched at Occupy Los Angeles when it voted to shut down SSA terminals at the Port of Los Angeles and Long Beach in solidarity with truckers who were fired when they tried to unionize, said Barucha Peller, a member of the Occupy Oakland blockade assembly.