West Coast Ports Brace for Occupy Shutdown Attempt

West Coast ports are meeting with law enforcement agencies in their regions to ensure demonstrations planned for Dec. 12 by the Occupy movement do not compromise the safety of port workers and the demonstrators themselves.

The Occupy movement announced last week that it will sponsor demonstrations on Dec. 12 all along the coast, with the intention of shutting down all the major gateways.

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union says the union will not participate in the event because it was developed by a third-party group without input from union officers and a vote by the rank and file.

Demonstrators are allowed to express their views as long as they do not interfere with port traffic, said Port of Long Beach spokesman Art Wong. Also, they must confine their picketing to areas that are safely separated from truck traffic and construction zones, he said. However, there is so much construction going on at the port, and Mondays are usually busy days in the harbor, so demonstrations would be even more burdensome to port operations, Wong said.

Port of Los Angeles police have been meeting with city agencies and local police departments to develop a response plan, said port spokesman Philip Sanfield. With the proposed demonstrations still two weeks away, it is still a fluid situation, he said.

The Occupy L.A. movement is scheduled to make an announcement late Monday afternoon. The Occupy meetings have been open to everyone and the organizers so far have made their plans public, Sanfield noted.

The Occupy movement began this fall with Occupy Wall Street demonstrations in New York. The only movement so far to directly impact ports took place on Nov. 2 when Occupy Oakland shut down the Port of Oakland for the night shift.

Last week, the ILWU said although the union shares Occupy Wall Street’s concerns about corporate abuses and the future of the middle class, the call by Occupy forces to shut down West Coast ports was made without any consultation with the union.

“Only ILWU members or their elected representatives can authorize job actions on behalf of the union, and any decisions made by groups outside of the union’s democratic process do not hold water, regardless of the intent,” said ILWU President Robert McEllrath.