Occupy protesters seeking to shut down California’s port of Oakland were successful Monday night. International Longshore and Warehouse Union told its members not to report for the overnight shift due to mass amounts of protesters at the port. A port spokesman said the protests “disrupted workers trying to get to work and impaired the port’s ability to operate.”
The ILWU distanced itself from the protest, though President Robert McEllrath said he “shares the Occupy movement’s concerns about the future of the middle class and corporate abuses.” He cautioned demonstrators against “outside groups attempting to co-opt our struggle in order to advance a broader agenda.”
