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| Capitol Beltway truckers protest |
Do you remember the truckers who were supposed to clog up the Capitol Beltway to the point of a traffic standstill and then keep traffic clogged until President Obama resigned? Do you remember the quite small numbers of truckers who actually showed up to participate in this action? This is now considered something of a footnote because it really didn't amount to much.
But this protest is something different. Truckers were out there protesting "unsafe working conditions and unfair labor practices". This wasn't actually a union protest, since these truckers who serve the Port of Oakland are not allowed to organize one, but there they were, protesting anyway.
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| A line of truckers from the Oakland protest |
Among their issues is the fact that the Port hasn't raised cargo payments for 10 years, while the cost of diesel fuel skyrockets. Then, truckers generally have to sit in line for hours, waiting for a shipment to load, and of course time is money - but there isn't any pay for this idle time; they'd like that to change. Then, of course, there is the issue of humane working conditions - truckers have to drive for up to 14 hours with no bathroom breaks - uh, unless you're carrying urinals and are male, that presents some physical dilemmas.
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| Oakland Police gathered to face off with the truckers |
So, the city of Oakland pre-staffed the port area with a significant police force with night sticks drawn and aggressive readiness postures. The Oakland mayor managed to prevail upon judicial intervention, so a judge ordered that the truckers not block pedestrian passage nor the Port entrance. Doesn't that mitigate the effect of the action?
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| ILWU members joined the protest |
But there is a union at the Port - the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) - and all the members walked off the job, in solidarity with the truckers, and effectively stopped the business of the largest terminal. So far, no one knows how long this protest will continue, but the ILWU has offered its assistance in helping the truckers with negotiation. And the Port really should start to do some serious negotiating, because every minute means a loss of revenue and could result in the pile-up of rotting vegetation.
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