Protest trouble at Oakland

Around 50 independent truckers from the Local 10 International Longshoremen and Warehouse Union (ILWU) blocked at least one entrance to the facility, claiming they’ve waited up to eight hours to pick up or deliver goods.

A spokesperson from the Port of Oakland told Port Strategy: “There are 10-20 protestors at four locations: OICT East and West gates, Ports America, and the AMPCO truck parking facility. Only OICT operations are being impacted at this time. Labour has claimed unsafe working conditions, and the arbitration process is underway.”

It is understood that the truckers are paid by the load and are losing thousands of dollars because of delays, which they blamed entirely on SSA Marine, which took control of the affected terminal last month. Apparently, the company took two berths out of operation at a time when cargo volumes were on the up.

Oakland Police were on hand to help diffuse the situation and are expected to be on-site again today to “actively maintain access to all terminal gates throughout the day”.

This is not the first time Oakland has suffered backlogs. Back in November 2012, the port saw a huge backlog following union action from the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 1021.