Ports from Bellingham, Washington to San Diego, California, will stop processing cargo on June 19. Instead, workers from the International Longshore and Warehouse Union are spending the day protesting about police violence and racism.
According to local media, on June 19 economic activity at ports along US’s West Coast will stop. Namely, shipping containers will wait for transport, while trucks will remain idle.
In addition, demonstrators plan to meet for a rally at Middle Harbor Road and then march through downtown Oakland.
June 19, also known as Juneteenth, commemorates the end of slavery in the United States.
Friday’s demonstration will be the latest protest actions taken by the ILWU. Historically, dockworkers refused to process cargo from apartheid-South Africa throughout the 1960s, 70s, and 80s. The ILWU has also carried out antiwar protests at the Port of Oakland in 2003. In 2008, workers also shut down West Coast ports in protest of the war in Iraq.
