Longshore Workers Will Walk Off Jobs May 1st To Protest Iraq War

[Omaha Steve]

Longshore Workers Will Walk Off Jobs May 1st To Protest Iraq War

The United States could be facing a West Coast ports shut down on May 1st as longshore workers protest the War in Iraq. Jesse Russell reports:

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union recently sent a letter to AFL-CIO President John Sweeney announcing that West Coast port workers would be walking off the job on May 1 to demand a withdrawal of troops from Iraq. The letter from ILWU President Robert McEllrath says that during a two-week caucus members adopted a resolution that calls for “longshore workers to stop work during the day shift, on May 1, 2008, to express their opposition to the war in Iraq.” McEllrath asks Sweeney in the letter if other AFL-CIO affiliates would be participating in similar events on May 1, also known worldwide as International Workers’ Day, to “honor labor history and express support for the troops by bringing them home safely.” The letter was sent on February 22.