Reported by Mark Gruenberg for People’s World
Tens of thousands of East and Gulf Coast dockworkers shut down major American Ports at midnight Tuesday, Oct. 1 when they walked off the job, determined to fight for decent wages and to force their bosses to discuss automation.
Picket lines from the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) went up from eastern Maine through to South Texas. The historic action is ILA’s first strike in almost half a century.
The union drew immediate support from elsewhere among organized labor.
“Relying on Taft-Hartley is not a winning strategy and should not be USMX’s expected path to resolution,” said AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department President Greg Regan and Secretary-Treasurer Shari Semelsberger.