Articles about Twinkies ! (heh)
Never fear. Here's the down and dirty:
As you read this pickets are forming at the Oakland Airport (run by the Port of Oakland), and tomorrow morning at 5:30 AM SEIU Local 1021 will be setting up picket lines at various Port of Oakland gates which other unions (e.g., the ILWU) will honor.
About 200 workers are set to begin a 24-hour strike at the Port of Oakland and Oakland International Airport... Workers represented by the Service Employees International Union are scheduled to walk off the job at 9:30 p.m. Monday to protest alleged unfair labor practices.
SEIU 1021 represents maintenance and janitorial workers employed by the Port of Oakland at the airport and the shipping harbor... Union members will start picketing at the harbor at 5 a.m. Tuesday and hope other port workers will honor the picket line.
If all goes as planned the
fifth busiest port in the nation will not be unloading cargo two days before Thanksgiving. Which might turn a few heads.
The Port is shut down. 10/2/2011.
The SEIU has called for support from Occupy Oakland, the Justice 4 Alan Blueford Coalition, and other community organizations in and around Oakland, CA, as they battle a Port Authority that has left them without a contract for 16 months.
The Port has demanded "givebacks" on healthcare and pensions while it continues to make a substantial profit. Not to mention that it has become embroiled in scandal that has already forced the resignation of the Executive Director of the Port Authority for running up a, shall we say, obscene, tab at a strip club in Houston, Texas. Or other "irregularities" in expense reports going back years. Or cushy salaries and perks for executives and board members who insist that their workers need to practice austerity.
Port executives refuse to bargain, dragging on negotiations with Port Workers for the last 16 months. Local 1021 members have fought back against unfair labor attacks from port executives, who have illegally withheld vital information related to bargaining and have unilaterally changed the terms of our contract.
Port executives are under media scrutiny for misusing public funds at strip clubs, golf outings and a business suspected as a front for prostitution. Despite a $37 million surplus, they want to impose a 15-percent wage and benefit cut on workers.
And they continue to try to get us to back down, but we continue fighting-- we are the men and women who do clerical work, repair, secure and maintain the Oakland Harbor and Airport. We are fighting for good jobs. And we will continue to stand up for the working people of Oakland and all of Northern California. Please come out and support our ULP Strike!
The Port of Oakland has been a prime target for protests over the years, in recent times seeing demonstrations and shutdowns
concerning the Iraq and Afghanistan wars,
the murder of Oscar Grant, and culminating in last year's
Occupy Oakland General Strike and then the
West Coast Port Shutdown.
Even the current governor of California, Jerry Brown, helped shut down terminals at the port for four days back in 1997:
Brown, just launching his mayoral campaign, participated in a solidarity picket line in 1997 that shut down the Oakland terminal for four days in support of 500 sacked Liverpool, England, dockworkers. And De La Fuente led the thousand-strong union protest through downtown Oakland in 1998 to demand the charges be dropped against the port protesters.
The SEIU action, a one day strike, continues this tradition by emphasizing the struggle of the 99% against the 1% -- who never seem to grasp that their excesses have shredded the fabric of our society, and that providing good jobs at living wages should be a goal, not an obstacle.
There may not be tens of thousands, or even thousands, out at the Port tomorrow. But the message of austerity as bullshit is getting through. Just ask the Hostess Bakers' Union, the Chicago Teachers Union, or SEIU Local 1021.
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Updates:
OccupythePort @occupytheport
Live Stream! Oakland Airport Strike. http://politicalfailblog.com/... via @pfailblog
Port workers @SEIU1021 kicks off at #Oakland airport @occupytheport @occupyoakland http://instagr.am/...
Global Revolution @GlobalRevLive
#Oakland #Airport #SIEU Workers #Strike Live Now http://bit.ly/... #Unity #Solidarity #Occupy #ocam #OWS
Mon Nov 19, 2012 at 10:00 PM PT:
SEIU 1021 @seiu1021
The port has a surplus yet they demand concessions of our workers while spending public $$ on strip clubs & brothels. Enough! #portstrike
Retweeted by HobgoblinOfCommunism
from Oakland, CA
SEIU 1021 @seiu1021
Lots of media at this strike. Let's show the Bay Area what solidarity looks like! #portstrike. We're going to shut down the port tmrw!
Retweeted by HobgoblinOfCommunism
Mon Nov 19, 2012 at 10:11 PM PT: Chant: "They say takeaway. We say 'no way!'"