ILWU turns out for May Day rally
Locked-out members of International Longshore and Warehouse Union make
up the largest contingent from organized labor at Portland’s May Day march
and rally May 1. The event drew a diverse crowd of several hundred
participants, with a prominent showing from immigrant workers and
members of the Industrial Workers of the World. Other unions sporting
banners were Amalgamated Transit Union Local 757 and Iron Workers Local
29. The mix is well in keeping with the origins of the celebration, which is
observed around the world as International Workers Day. May Day was
chosen to commemorate a rally in Chicago’s Haymarket Square that took
place during an 1886 general strike for the eight-hour day. Chicago police had
killed several Irish immigrant strikers, and were attempting to break up the
rally organized by anarchist trade union leaders when a bomb was thrown at
police and they opened fire on demonstrators. Though today bullets are rarely
used on demonstrators in the United States, Portland’s May Day events have
sometimes seen arrests and tensions with police. This year, ILWU members
rattled the police when they broke away from the permitted march route and
briefly occupied an entryway to Wells Fargo tower, where United Grain is
headquartered. ILWU is in a labor dispute with United Grain, and members
have been locked out of its Vancouver grain terminal since Feb. 27, 2013.
MAY 16, 2014
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
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