KELLY KEARSLEY - The News Tribune, May 1, 2008

More than 25,000 West Coast International Longshore and Warehouse workers, including many hundred in Tacoma, are taking a day off work today in protest of the war in Iraq.

May Day is traditionally a day to celebrate labor and workers’ rights.

Scott Mason, spokesman for Tacoma’s ILWU Local 23, said this morning that usually 200 to 300 dockworkers would be coming to work today. But instead four ships are waiting to be unloaded in the Port of Tacoma and the truck gates are quiet.

ILWU International President Bob McEllrath said the workers are “standing down on the job and standing up for America.”

“We’re supporting the troops and telling politicians in Washington that it’s time to end the war in Iraq,” McEllrath said.

The protest doesn’t come as a surprise to longshore employers.

The union voted in February to stop work today in opposition of the war and made a request to the Pacific Maritime Association, the organization that represents terminal operators, stevedores and cargo carriers. The union’s contract allows for stop work meetings, with advance notice, though they usually occur during evening shifts. The PMA denied the request for a work stoppage during the day, typically the busiest hours for West Coast ports.

Some Tacoma longshore union members are headed to Seattle for anti-war events there. Others are staying in Tacoma for events scheduled for tonight.

The union plans to have workers available for the evening shift – which starts at 6 p.m. – to clear out the back log of cargo at the port.

“We will fill every job ordered,” Mason said. “Our job is to get ships in and out, but today we need to be getting those troops home.”