Wednesday, November 02, 2011
Occupy Oakland Closes the Port of Oakland
UPDATE 1: Bank closures were a prominent feature of protests during the day:
In addition to the port, where an average of $8.5 million in business is done each day, banks were a particular focus of Wednesday's action — and of its vandals. City officials said four branches were closed because of demonstrators.
David Solnit, a 47-year-old San Francisco resident, was among the protesters who strung yellow tape across the door of the downtown Wells Fargo branch and refused to budge. A few young people sat down in front of the door, and within an hour, 25 people had joined them, Solnit said.
Vandals smashed windows at the Bank of America branch near Lake Merritt and spray painted Class War, Shut It Down and 1946, the latter a historical reference to the general strike that shuttered Oakland for two days 65 years ago.
INITIAL POST:
A march of approximately 5,000 to 10,000 people, and perhaps, significantly more, reached the Port of Oakland and prevented trucks and the 7pm night shift from entering it, effectively closing it until the next shifts at 3am and 6am. The International Longshore and Warehouse Union wants to keep the port closed for 24 hours, undoubtedly for the reason for which the march and port closure were called, to support workers resisting a bitter lockout in Longview, Washington. Occupy Oakland is undertaking efforts to keep the gates closed during the early morning hours to stop the next shifts from entering the port.
Labels: Bay Area, California, Neoliberalism, Occupy Wall Street, Sub-Proletarianization of America, Unions
