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Wheat farmers oppose
Occupy’s port shutdown
Occupy came. Occupy went. But, they went with
more negative headlines than they probably expected.
In an attempt to show solidarity for worker
rights and a plight against the wealth of America, the
Occupy movement showed up at West Coast ports in
mid-December with the idea of shutting off all trade
from the Pacific for a day. In their attempt to have
a negative effect on trade and, subsequently, Wall
Street, they managed to infuriate the workers they
claim to represent. Longshoremen refused to join the
protest.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Port of
Oakland officials said disruptions caused by protesters
likely cost businesses, workers and the surrounding
community millions of dollars. Officials estimate
the port generates around $8.5 million per day in
business revenue, wages, taxes and other economic
activity.
Closer to home, between 60 and 80 union workers
were not paid due to port shutdowns orchestrated
by the Occupy Seattle movement, a union leader told
seattlepi.com.
In Portland, the Oregonian editorial board wrote
that if nothing else, the port protests demonstrated
Oregon’s deep reliance on trade. “As the picketers
meandered from one terminal to the next, they took
a day’s pay away from almost 400 International
Longshore and Warehouse Union workers who were
told to avoid the protests and stay home. It’s doubtful
that large exporters and ship-owning companies
such as Goldman Sachs were affected in any way by
the protest—but hundreds of Oregon families took a
holiday hit to their paychecks.”
A barge unloads its cargo of wheat at the Columbia Grain export terminal in Portland,
Ore. Billions of dollars worth of agricultural products are shipped through
Pacific Northwest ports every year.
Representing thousands of wheat farmers in the state, the
Washington Grain Alliance took a firm stand against the protesting
that shut down the West Coast ports last month.
“We need everyone to work together in order to keep grain
moving to our customers,” said WAWG President Eric Maier.
“Thousands of jobs on both sides of the state rely on our wheat,
including the export facility workers who oversee the ports, the
workers who load the ships, the river and bar pilots who guide
the ships...the list is long. They need us, and we need them.”
In the organization’s resolutions, WAWG opposes any mea-
4 WHEAT LIFE JANUARY 2012