#BDS_Fail: BDS'ers cause Port of Oakland to lose business to LA
For the
second time in recent weeks, a ship owned by an Israeli company was prevented from unloading at the Port of Oakland (California). But this time, instead of
circling around until it could sneak in, the ship sailed for the Port of Los Angeles,
arriving on Tuesday morning. If this works out, Zim may use Los Angeles, rather than Oakland as a port of call, which could result in a loss of jobs in a very hard-hit port.
The Zim Shanghai docked in Los Angeles on Tuesday morning, according to
tracking by the website marinetraffic.com. It was still carrying its
original cargo.
The ship, which is owned by Zim Integrated
Shipping Services, Israel’s largest shipping company, was unable to
unload Saturday after some 200 activists prevented workers at the
Oakland Port from getting near the ship. Approximately 50 police
officers were on hand but did not intervene.
The International
Longshore and Warehouse Union released a statement saying, “The ILWU is
not among the groups organizing the protests, and the leadership and
membership of the ILWU have taken no position on the Israel/Gaza
conflict.”
Staytuned....
Labels: BDS, Los Angeles, Oakland, San Francisco
#BDS_Fail: Zim's Piraeus unloads in the Port of Oakland, included cargo from Israel
Zim's
Piraeus has
unloaded in the Port of Oakland.
A container ship stalled by
protesters at the Port of Oakland for four days was unloaded by
longshore workers and sailed away early Wednesday, officials said.
The
unloading of the ZIM vessel Piraeus, operated by an Israeli company,
had been delayed by Block the Boat protesters responding to recent
Israeli military actions in Gaza.
The ship was unloaded at Berth 22 in the area known as Ports America Outer Harbor, Port spokesman Robert Bernardo said.
...
Because of a small number
of protesters and minimal police presence remained, longshore workers
"determined that the atmosphere did not pose a threat to their safety,"
allowing them to safely enter and work the vessel, ILWU Local 10 said in
a news release.
Jennifer Sargent, a union spokeswoman, said
Wednesday that after some delays, 30 longshore workers began unloading
the ship at 10 p.m. Tuesday and finished at 4 a.m. Wednesday.
The
ship, which departed later on Wednesday morning, was carrying crates of
sparkling wine and ceramic tiles from Spain, cheese and long-grain rice
from Italy and organic red lentils and marble from Turkey among other
items. Commodities from Israel included irrigation equipment, solar
heaters for swimming pools and tires, according to the ship's manifest.
Even though the ship was eventually unloaded, Block the Boat called the four-day delay a "historic victory."
The
delay sparked concerns by another union, the Teamsters Joint Council 7 .
During the protest, the union issued a statement calling on longshore
workers to "immediately unload the ship" and said their issue was not
the Isreal/Palestine conflict, but the impact the protests have on local
jobs.
"Our members haul containers from the Port of Oakland by
truck and rail and anything that hurts commerce hurts our members and
damages the economy of the Bay Area," said Rome Aloise, Vice President
of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and President of Teamsters
Joint Council 7.
Let the Teamsters knock some heads together - that will take care of them.
Labels: BDS, Oakland, San Francisco
#BDS_Fail: Zim cargo ship unloaded in Oakland
It took four days and required a fake feint toward Los Angeles, but
unloading of a Zim cargo ship finally started in the Port of Oakland on Tuesday night.
Demonstrators scrambled to shore up their forces at the Port of
Oakland Tuesday night after a cargo ship they had blocked from unloading
as a protest against Israel's military actions in Gaza set sail for Los
Angeles then abruptly made a U-turn and headed back to Oakland.
Despite the protesters' efforts, longshore workers began unloading the vessel late Tuesday.
Pro-Palestinian
activists who had protested the presence of the ship Piraeus since
Saturday put out urgent mobilization calls for demonstrators to head to
the waterfront. Those calls came after online tracking databases showed
the vessel heading under the Bay Bridge and back toward Oakland shortly
after 6 p.m.
Just three hours earlier, the Piraeus had left port
with a reported destination of Los Angeles. It sailed through the Golden
Gate and into the Pacific, then turned around and headed back to a new
berth in Oakland.
Protesters, some of whom never believed that the
ship would head south, scrambled to meet the ship. About 30 marched
slowly in a circle off Maritime Street, blocking the entrance to the
port as longshore workers looked on from across the street.
...
Longshore workers responsible for unloading the vessel refused to do
so, not because they are taking sides in the fight between Israel and Hamas, but because they would not work "under armed police escort - not with our experience with the police in this community," said Melvin MacKay, president of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 10.
On
Tuesday night, however, because there was no "safety issue," longshore
workers reported for work and were unloading the ship, even as
protesters continued to block the entrance, said union spokeswoman Jennifer Sargent.
Union
officials said longshore workers have been concerned about port safety
during demonstrations since several people protesting the Iraq War were
injured in a 2003 port rally.
Oakland police fired nonlethal
projectiles, including wood bullets and bean bags, without provocation
and without allowing protesters a chance to disperse.
Protests over the Piraeus have been peaceful.
The Israeli government owns 32% of Zim. The rest is owned by banks and shipping companies worldwide. The ship was not carrying cargo to or from Israel. Sounds like a #BDS_Fail to me.
Labels: BDS, Oakland, San Francisco
