[Seattle-editorial] FEATURE PROPOSAL: ILWU LOCKOUT

[jonathan lawson]

subtitle: LABOR NEGOTIATIONS BREAK DOWN
title: Port Bosses Lock Out Longshoremen, Docks Close Coastwide

Shipping bosses from the Pacific Maritime Association have ordered the 
closure of ports up and down the west coast, in a drastic lockout of the <a 
href="http://www.ilwu.org">International Longshore Workers Union</a>, 
effective at least through Sunday, Sept 29. The sudden breakdown of ongoing 
labor negotiations is apparently in  retaliation for the union's contract 
demands.  ILWU negotiators call the action an <a 
href="http://seattle.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=18164">attack on 
the union as an institution</a> and on the U.S. economy. Meanwhile, Bush 
administration threats of <a 
href="http://seattle.indymedia.org/archive/features/2002/08/2002-08.html#4587">union-busting 
Federal intervention</a> continue to overshadow the conflict.

<p>Responding to PMA allegations that ILWU slowdowns are to blame for the 
closure, the union cites <a href="http://www.friendsoflabor.com">record 
amounts of cargo</a> moved in recent months--"the biggest speedup in ILWU 
history" pushed by the PMA, and corresponding with "a record number of 
on-the-job deaths." Rallies in solidarity with the locked out workers are 
planned or have taken place in <a 
href="http://portland.indymedia.org:8081/front.php3?article_id=22888">Portland</a>, 
Seattle, <a href="http://www.portsolidarity2002.org/">San  Francisco</a> 
and elsewhere. In the words of one IMC newswire contributor, "<a 
href="http://seattle.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=18161">war has 
begun on the waterfront.</a>"

<p><a href="http://la.indymedia.org">Los Angeles IMC</a> | <a 
href="http://portland.indymedia.org">Portland IMC</a> | <a 
href="http://sf.indymedia.org">San Francisco IMC</a> | <a 
href="http://www.friendsoflabor.com">Friends of Labor</a>