OCCUPY ACTIVISTS trying to shut down US west coast ports managed to close several terminals and scuffled with police, but fell short of mounting the full-scale cargo blockade they had promised.
Thousands of protesters marched on ports from California to Alaska in rallies seen as a test of the Occupy movement’s momentum, hoping to draw attention to economic inequality and a financial system they say is unfairly skewed towards the wealthy.
Demonstrators succeeded in disrupting arrivals of trucks and dock workers at some waterfronts along the coast, effectively closing two terminals in Oregon and a third in Washington state and disrupting port operations in Oakland, scene of the largest rallies.
“Whose ports? Our ports!” a crowd of about 1,000 activists chanted in Oakland, long an Occupy hot spot, as they paraded before dawn from a transit station to the city’s cargo port and split into groups to try to block terminal entrances.
But by dark, demonstrators had largely failed to cause the large-scale halt to west coast commerce some had sought, and several dozen protesters had been arrested along the coast.
Oakland mayor Jean Quan said the port protest, far from helping the working class, was actually harming her city and workers.
By evening, police said about 500 protesters were still standing on a road used by trucks at the port.
“People have to think about the consequences of the shutdown,” Ms Quan said.
“I think the ruling class is laughing right now.” – (Reuters)