ILWU Shut Down Oakland Port For Day For Justice In Oscar Grant Murder

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.laborradio.org/node/14330

Submitted by Doug Cunningham on October 25, 2010 - 3:56pm
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Only one ship was serviced at the Port of Oakland on Saturday as workers shut the port down to protest at city hall. Jesse Russell explains.

The Port of Oakland was closed by workers on Saturday as they protested in advance of sentencing in the shooting of Oscar Grant. The Longshore and Warehouse Workers Union have a long history of speaking out over concerns of injustice in the community. The workers protested in front of city hall to call for justice in the case – they want to make sure officer Johannes Mehserle who shot the unarmed Grant on a subway platform is sentenced appropriately on November 5, 2010 and doesn’t receive any special treatment because he is a police officer. Supporters of a minimum jail; sentence of 14 years for Mehserle are concerned he will be set home on probation and justice won’t be served. Grant was shot on January 1, 2009. The last time the workers closed the port to express an opinion was in 2008 to protest the War in Iraq.