Walkout by union dockworkers shuts down Oakland terminals

Union dockworkers at the Port of Oakland walked off the job Wednesday in sympathy with striking employees at an area sugar refiner. The walkout by members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union shut down terminals at Oakland; FreightWaves could not immediately confirm reports of similar protests at other West Coast ports.

“Representatives from the Port of Oakland’s major tenants reported yesterday morning that workers at several locations left their terminals in what appears to be a coordinated labor activity at several seaports, and unrelated to the Oakland waterfront operations,” said port spokesman Justin Berton, in an email to FreightWaves.

The port could not say how many dockworkers participated in the walkout; the terminals are privately owned by four companies that manage all hiring. FreightWaves has reached out for comment.

Tensions over contract talks with striking warehouse personnel represented by the ILWU at C&H Sugar, 25 miles north of the port in Crockett, escalated this week when two union protesters were arrested after they and a crowd of supporters blocked truck access to the plant.

Local media reported that strikers blocked the plant after C&H hired non-union workers to unload a ship. The sugar workers have been on strike since June 15. Read more articles by Stuart Chirls here.

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