Anti-Wall Street protesters’ attempts to block some of the US West Coast’s busiest ports have led to the partial shut-down of docks in California, Oregon and Washington state.
The closures hit terminals within the three ports, but it was not immediately clear how much the shut-downs would affect operations.
In Oakland, California, shipping companies and the longshoremen’s union agreed to send home about 150 workers, essentially halting operations at two terminals.
In Portland, Oregon, authorities closed two terminals after police arrested two people who were carrying weapons and said they were heading to the protest.
And in Longview, Washington, workers were sent home out of concerns for their “health and safety”.
The “Wall Street on the waterfront” campaign was perhaps the Occupy movement’s most dramatic gesture since police raids in several cities sent most remaining protest camps scattering last month.
Demonstrators began forming the camps around the US about two months ago to protest against what they called economic inequality between the richest 1 per cent of Americans and the other 99 per cent, whom they claimed to represent.
But some of the port workers they meant to support were not thrilled at the demonstrations today.
“This is a joke. What are they protesting?” said Christian Vega, who was sitting in his truck after the protest meant he was not able to drive into the port in Oakland. He said the delay was costing him $600.
“It only hurts me and the other drivers. We have jobs and families to support and feed. Most of them don’t,” Mr Vega added.
The protesters said American ports have become “economic engines for the elite”. They were most upset by giant West Coast port operator SSA Marine and grain exporter EGT, which they said epitomise big corporations. Goldman Sachs owns a major stake in SSA Marine, and the bank has been a repeated target of Occupy protesters since the movement began.
The Occupy protesters want to support the dock workers, but the union that represents them is distancing itself from today’s marches.
In Southern California, as many as 400 demonstrators gathered to march on the sprawling Port of Long Beach - specifically a dock facility owned by SSA Marine.
At least one person was taken into custody.
Port spokesman John Pope said the protesters were in a car park and had not crossed into the private port area, so “there haven’t been any disruptions to port operations at this point”.
Occupy groups also planned blockades in Seattle and Tacoma, Washington.
In Vancouver, Canada, about two dozen protesters set up brief blockades at entrances to the port, proclaiming solidarity with longshore employees.
Protesters hoped to draw thousands to stand in solidarity with longshoremen and port truckers they said are being exploited.
However, the president of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, which represents many thousands of longshoremen up and down the West Coast, suggested in a letter to members that protesters were trying to co-opt the union’s cause to advance their own agenda.
AP