Western ports return to normal after workers' war protest

Docks are empty and cranes that load and unload cargo containers from ships stand in the vertical, idle position while ships sit at berths at the port of Long Beach, Calif., as West Coast cargo traffic came to a halt as port workers staged daylong anti-war protests Thursday, May 1, 2008. Thousands of dockworkers did not show up for the morning shift, leaving ships and truck drivers idle at ports from Long Beach to Seattle. Workers were expected to return for the start of the evening shift. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

LOS ANGELES—West Coast cargo traffic came to a halt Thursday as port workers ditched the day shift, saying they wanted to commemorate May Day and call on the U.S. to end the war in Iraq.

Worker stayed off the job for about 10 hours before returning for evening shifts.

Thousands of dockworkers at 29 ports in California, Oregon and Washington were no-shows for the morning shift, leaving ships and trucks idle at ports from Long Beach to Seattle, said Pacific Maritime Association spokesman Steve Getzug.

Some longshore workers in San Francisco and Seattle joined rallies with other anti-war protesters. But no longshore workers could be found protesting at the giant Long Beach-Los Angeles port complex.

The work stoppage came during ongoing contract talks between the union and shippers that began in March. The current six-year contract expires on July 1.

The union insisted the walkout was not related to the negotiations and defended its members' right to take the day off.

"We're loyal to America, and we won't stand by while our country, our troops, and our economy are destroyed by a war," said Bob McEllrath, the ILWU's international president.

The West Coast ports are the nation's principal gateway for cargo container traffic from the Far East, with the adjacent ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach handling about 40 percent of the nation's cargo.

J. Craig Shearman, a spokesman for the National Retail Federation, said shippers and exporters expected no long-term disruptions from the walkout.

"This is something that happens every year," he said.

Shearman said many longshore workers on the West Coast took May Day off last year to participate in immigration rallies.

"Everything is back to normal. Assignments are being dispatched," Craig Merrilees, a spokesman for the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, said Thursday evening.

Longshore workers handle everything from operating cranes at port marine terminals to clerical work like coordinating truck cargo deliveries.

Due to the walkout, trucker James Laudermill, 48, spent the morning washing his truck and fueling up on diesel at a truck wash in the Los Angeles suburb of Wilmington after he was turned away at the nearby Port of Long Beach.

"I was trying to pick up a load this morning, and I was at the speaker and suddenly security came out and run us all out," he said, adding he would lose about $400 because of the walkout.

In the current contract talks, port employers are seeking productivity increases through shift adjustments and technology upgrades.

The union wants better safety standards and increased compensation.

Shippers have said the average full-time dockworker made $136,000 in 2007. The union disputes that figure, stressing that only 10,000 of the 25,000 workers covered by the current contract worked full-time or more hours.

Getzug said employers were concerned about the impact of the walkout on contract talks. He did not elaborate.

A 10-day lockout during a 2002 contract dispute cost the nation's economy an estimated $1 billion to $2 billion a day.

Union members voted during a caucus in February to take May 1 off to protest the war. Employers raised objections with an arbitrator, who ruled in favor of the employers and ordered the union to tell members to show up for work.

The union said it complied with its contract.

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Associated Press Writers Gillian Flaccus in Long Beach, Marcus Wohlsen in San Francisco and Manuel Valdes in Seattle contributed to this report.