Frustrated and angry with the Port of Oakland around demands for back wages and benefits, members of Service Employees International Union Local 1021 are now celebrating the conclusion of 16 months of bargaining that not only defeated the attack on their membership, but resulted in no loss of pay or benefits and some actual bonuses. This victory was made possible by a solid coalition of union members from SEIU, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, the Teamsters and UNITE HERE that shut down the port for 24 hours from Nov. 19 to Nov. 20 during the busy pre-Thanksgiving commercial push.
Although SEIU Local 1021 has only 200 members, more than 500 supporters showed up for the all-night vigil, including many members of the Oakland activist community and members of the ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) who braved a rainy night and day to demonstrate that unity is power. The solidarity was so strong that the early arrival of a lone picket at 5 a.m. was enough for ILWU workers to refuse to cross to unload waiting cargo ships. By noon on Nov. 20, the Port declared that the strikers represented a health and safety risk, which effectively authorized workers not to report to their stations. And by late that afternoon, the situation had become so dire for the Port Authority that it called in Oakland Mayor Jean Quan and asked that she contact the union to restart the stalled contract negotiations.
During the 16 months leading up to the strike, the Port Authority had arrogantly sought to cut worker wages by up to 15 percent, while also proposing increases in worker contributions to their benefit packages. The Port Authority claimed that there were financial problems, but evidence emerged that these problems were caused by corruption on the part of management, which could be solved through management reform rather than by attacks on workers’ wages and benefits.
What the Port did not and could not see was the effective effort of SEIU local union members to reach out to other unions and community groups for support. Then, in a well-organized action, union workers and community supporters were mobilized late on Nov. 19, surrounding the Port of Oakland and the Oakland International Airport, where the Port Authority had privatized almost half of the union jobs, respresenting the bulk of concession workers at the airport. UNITE HERE joined the job action as part of its ongoing effort to organize and return power to those workers.
This victory demonstrates what a powerful force organized labor can be when unions and the community join together in militant action.
