By Jim Crutchfield, IWW NYC GMB - Industrial Worker, May 2008

Members of the New York City IWW branch attended a rally on April 1 at a truck stop on the New Jersey Turnpike, where an estimated 300 drivers, mostly owner-operators, met to protest fuel price gouging and address the media. The rally was part of a nationwide work stoppage by truckers that reportedly shut down several major ports on the East and West Coasts and turned highways around Chicago into parking lots.

Drivers from as far away as Florida were present at the New Jersey gathering, along with many drivers’ family members and other supporters. Two Wobblies addressed the crowd and were warmly received. The union collected contact information from nearly 100 drivers, many of whom expressed great enthusiasm for continuing their agitation and solidifying their organization.

IWW members also helped pacify the New Jersey State Police, who had started the morning with a barrage of traffic tickets, but backed off and just watched the show after being reassured that the gathering would be peaceful and that drivers would obey parking and traffic regulations.

Industrial Worker, May 2008

On April 1, troqueros from New Jersey rallied on the New Jersey turnpike. On April 3, Houston followed. Truck drivers across the country participated in scattered actions to protest rising diesel fuel prices.

The price of diesel across the United States has risen by 21 per cent since the end of December 2007, from $3.35 to $4.05 per gallon, according to the US Energy Information Administration. A month before the March 2003 invasion of Iraq, the price of diesel was $1.71 per gallon.

Something is wrong when we have to choose between feeding our families or buying diesel, said truckers. The message was heard, but it was not loud enough, according to organizers, including members of the IWW, of a new round of protests on April 30-May 1. Truckers across the board had called for better organization and coordination In response, truckers at the three largest ports in the United States —Newark on the Atlantic, Houston on the Gulf of Mexico and Los Angeles on the Pacific— are planning to take coordinated action to shut down ports on the morning of April 30.

For more info, visit - truckers.iww.org

The IWW calls on North American truckers to unite together and shutdown on May 1, 2008.

Drivers in North America move the goods that make the economy work. They are treated like nothing by those who depend on them, the companies and the government. They have been used and abused. They have sucked dry by the economic powers in order to create profit that they never see. For many the rates have not increased in years, except after the 2004 Intermodal strikes, and now increasing fuel prices are taking money.

North American OTR drivers are exploited by the brokers. The brokers are clearly running a racket that claims their drivers are independent businesses with their own decision-making powers. But it is obvious that they are deferring the risks of their own enterprise onto unsuspecting drivers, who cannot pay the minimum of expenses to operate.

LTL truckers fare no better. They are often forced to work unpaid overtime and worked 14 or more hours with no breaks. They are forced to take dangerously overweight loads, to make illegal residential deliveries, and to lie on their logs. They constantly suffer under the mismanagement of supervisors and dispatchers.

By PETER COLE, GUEST COLUMNIST - Seattle Post-Intelligencer, April 29, 2008

On Thursday, May Day, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union will declare an eight-hour strike to protest the war in Iraq. Since the ILWU controls every port along the U.S. Pacific Coast, including Seattle and Tacoma, this strike demonstrates the collective power of workers willing to use it.

The ILWU is demanding "an immediate end to the war and occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan and the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the Middle East." Although the majority of Americans repeatedly have expressed their desire to end the war, President Bush has not obliged us, so it drags on. Because our leaders refuse to listen, ILWU members are taking the next logical step for workers: Strike.

For those unfamiliar, the ILWU is perhaps the most militant and politicized worker organization in the nation. It operates in one of the most important sectors of the world economy -- marine transport -- and, thus, is in a strategic location to put peace above profits.

Forged in the fires of 1930s worker struggles to gain basic rights, the ILWU was born in 1934 when longshoremen (there were no women in the industry then, though there are now) performed the incredibly hard, dangerous and important work of loading and unloading ships. To improve their wages and wrest some control over their lives, men all along the coast struck -- and in a few instances died -- to gain union recognition.

Dear Brothers and Sisters of the ILWU,

On behalf of myself and my congressional campaign, and in memory of my son Casey, I want to thank you for the principled and dignified action that you are taking on May 1st.

The exemplary resolution passed by your Longshore Caucus, and your decision to stop work on the West Coast docks on May 1, 2008 points the way for all of us who struggle to end the disastrous war and occupation of Iraq. This illegal and immoral war has been forced on us by the Republican administration, and has been funded enthusiastically by both the Democratic and Republican parties in Congress. The Democratic Party, under the leadership of Nancy Pelosi, continues a policy of full cooperation with and financial support for the Bush administration's war. While many Democrats will utter words that are critical of the highly unpopular war, their party simply will not use its political power to take any action to stop the carnage.

The ILWU has shown that it is an independent workers' union, morally superior to the Democratic Party in every respect. Once again, the Longshoremen of the West Coast are demonstrating that it is possible to oppose the war-mongering corporate politicians, and prevent them from dividing and conquering the movements of the workers and peoples. You Longshoremen have kept this powerful and noble tradition alive on their waterfront since the 1930s.

May Day March In Olympia Washington
Dockworkers Union to Shut Down Ports on May 1st!
NO PEACE, NO WORK!
BRING THE TROOPS HOME NOW!

In recognition of this bold stand by the International Longshore & Warehouse Union (ILWU), Peace Action Coalition Tacoma (PACT) proposes a MAYDAY Solidarity Demonstration.

Thursday, May 1st
5-7 PM

PACT proposes a DEMONSTRATION for the rights of ALL workers, and against another dumb bosses' war on Pacific Ave. over Interstate 5. The demonstration will be followed by a short march to the Federal Courthouse where a vigil will be held.

More details to follow.... Contact pactacoma@yahoo.com for more information.

(Tacoma-Olympia calendar and background below)

Tacoma-Olympia Mayday Calendar:

Noon Mayday Rally in Olympia-Sylvester Park (Legion & Capitol Way)
2 PM Olympia March
Sponsors-Evergreen MEChA, Olympia Movement for Peace & Justice, Olympia Students for a Democratic Society and more..

5 PM Tacoma Demonstration-Pacific Ave. I-5 overpass
6:30 PM March to Federal Courthouse
Sponsor-Peace Action Coalition Tacoma, and ..

7 PM Working Families, Not War program-1911 Pacific Ave. Washington State History Museum, Tacoma
8:30 PM Candle-light Vigil at Federal Courthouse, 1717 Pacific Ave. Sponsor-America in Solidarity

Disclaimer - The opinions of the author do not necessarily match those of the TWSC. This article is reposted in accordance to Fair Use guidelines.

Filed by Oren Liebermann - Wavy.com, April 3, 2008

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WAVY.com) -- Chris Evans remembers the good ole' days of truck driving, not too long ago, when diesel prices were about two dollars a gallon.

"It was awesome. It was great to be a trucker then," remembers Evans.

But now, he says those days are gone, replaced by soaring gas prices and shrinking profits for independent truckers, who rely on driving more miles to make more money.

"I hold about 240 gallons, but I haven't filled up," Evans says. "I haven't topped off these tanks in three to four weeks now."

The U.S. Department of Energy says high worldwide demand for diesel has forced prices near the $4 per/gallon mark. Adding to the problem, a switch to low-sulfur diesel has slowed production for American refineries.

On Friday, many independent truckers - truckers like Derek Langley - will shutdown for a day to draw national attention to the problem.

Disclaimer - The opinions of the author do not necessarily match those of the TWSC. The image pictured to the right did not appear in the original article, we have added it here to provide a visual perspective. This article is reposted in accordance to Fair Use guidelines.

By JEFFREY GOLD - Associated Press Writer, April 2, 2008

To truckers and media:

Our members and organizers in the trucking industry have been hearing about the called for April 1, 2008 trucker shut down.

The IWW is not organizing or calling for this shutdown, but supports all truckers taking action to improve their lives and protest the skyrocketing fuel, low pay, unpaid waits and all the other conditions that grow worse by the day.

Truckers unite! Only through organizing a union across the transportation industry can we begin to change this.

The IWW is committed to building a democratic, fighting union in the trucking industry whether you are an independent contractor driver or company driver, intermodal, LTL or over-the-road. Please contact us if you and your co-workers need support or are interested in making trucking a job worth keeping.

Motor Transport Workers IU 530 contacts:

• Pat Tresca- Midwest (224) 381-4088
• Billy Randel- New York (646) 645-6284

By Richard D. Vogel - Monthly Review [1], February 2006.

—General Porfirio Díaz, President of Mexico, 1877–1911

Capital’s relentless search for cheap labor constantly alters the flow of surface transportation in North America with widespread consequences. The end-of-century deindustrialization of the United States and importation of cheap commodities from the Far East through the West Coast reversed historical east-west transportation patterns and established Los Angeles and Long Beach as the largest ports in the nation. To minimize transportation costs, which for many products are higher than the cost of production, intermodal transportation of containerized imports was developed. Manufactured goods are packed into mobile shipping containers at factories in the Far East and travel by ship, train, and truck to distribution centers and, ultimately, consumer outlets across the United States. Currently, intermodal transportation of cheap imported commodities is the lifeline of the American economy. In 2004, the Port of Los Angeles processed 7.3 million container units and Long Beach handled 5.8 million. These two ports alone accounted for 68 percent of the West Coast total and are, by far, the largest employers in California. U.S. workers, who have seen so many lucrative manufacturing jobs moved overseas, assumed that import transportation and distribution jobs could not be offshored and were, therefore, relatively secure.