Hey, non candidate diary!
Unless I fail at searching (in which case I'll pull the diary), there seems to be hardly a mention here on Kos about the following story:
Thousands of dockworkers at 29 West Coast ports, including Los Angeles and Long Beach, took the day off work today in what their union called a protest of the war in Iraq, effectively shutting down operations at the busy complexes.
...
"We are supporting the troops and telling politicians in Washington that it's time to end the war in Iraq," said union President Bob McEllrath.
No large protests were actually held at the ports today, the protest was just staying home from work today. Still, it's good to see some sort of protest against the war on Mission Accomplished +6 Day.
This diary is more of a feel good bit that hopefully will break up the steady stream of primary news, which while interesting, is also maddening.
Also, it may be foreboding things to come, as far as the dock workers are concerned:
The show of force by the union came two months before the contract expires between the dockworkers, represented by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, and the Pacific Maritime Assn., which represents port operators and large shippers, many of them foreign-owned.
As it is, this is a one day action, so the expected damage to commerce won't be that much.
...and fine, I'll get in a primary shot. Here's hoping our next President will allow organized labor to flourish again, getting it back to where it was before Regan kneecapped organized labor in the 80's. Coming from someone who gets to watch the death of the auto industry in Detroit day by day, and coming from someone who knows he's going into a field (IT) that has little to no unions to speak of, where I'll be a glorified piece of intelligent meat to those who want things done... here's hoping the 21st century doesn't see the complete end of organized labor.