The 99% Will Shut Down West Coast Ports on Dec. 12th

OCCUPY PORTLAND TARGETS ”WALL STREET ON THE WATERFRONT”

GET INVOLVED: 

We will meet three times this week, on Tuesday (Dec 6), Thursday (Dec 8),  and Sunday (Dec 11).

The details for all three meeting are as follows:

Orientation at 6:30 pm
Meeting at 7:00 pm

SEIU Local 49 Hall
3536 SE 26th (at Powell)

#10 busline from downtown, bus stop one block away from hall.

If you have questions or can’t come to one of these meetings and still want to plug in, email us at  or call us at.

Occupy Portland has joined with other occupy movements in the largest West Coast port cities to organize mass mobilizations and community pickets to blockade the ports on December 12, 2011. A community blockade at the Port of Portland, publicly-owned space, will disrupt business-as-usual for what organizers have termed “Wall Street on the Waterfront.”

Organizers say the shutdown will focus public attention on how the 1% use the ports, international trade, and even the spirit of Christmas to profit off the 99%.

“One way that the 1% amasses wealth is through the ports. For instance, Wall Street firm Goldman Sachs is a majority share of Stevedore Services of America (SSA), which has terminals & does business at the Port of Portland,” says Kari Koch, one of the organizers, “Shut Down Wall Street on the Waterfront is a coordinated effort from the occupy movement to target the corporations that contribute to the vast inequality of wealth and power in our economic system.”

Portland will shut down the ports to show solidarity with longshore workers facing a vicious union-busting attack by the EGT grain conglomerate in Longview, Washington. Bunge Ltd is the largest partner in ETG and reported $2.5 billion in profit in 2010. The labor dispute in Longview involves EGT violating the union contract and bringing in non-ILWU workers on the ports.

“The rank and file of the labor movement not only supports the occupy movement, but are a part of the occupy movement. Organized and unorganized working people are struggling to keep their homes and their jobs, while the 1% – like EGT – reaps record profits,” says Kathryn Cates, one of the organizers, “Because the holiday season has been exploited by the 1% to make money off working people, December is a peak business time for the ports and the wealthiest corporations. On December 12 we will show that the holidays are about family & community not profits and exploitation.”

The longshoreman’s union, representing many port workers, has historically not crossed picket lines, community or otherwise.

As of December 5th, nine West Coast occupations have responded to the call to shut down Wall Street on the Waterfront, including Occupy LA/Long Beach, Occupy San Diego, Occupy Tacoma, Occupy Seattle, Occupy Anchorage and Occupy Oakland.

More information on Local Action found here: shutdowntheport.com

More information on West Coast Action found here: westcoastportshutdown.org

This entry was posted on December 7, 2011 at 12:40 am and is filed under Events, Occupation Preparation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.