Shut Down the Port! Coordinated West Coast Action on Dec. 12th, 2011
BLOG POST posted on Décembre 4, 2011 by Shutter Down
12pm Callister Park
Promotional Video made by Occupy Oakland
12pm, December 12th, Callister Park
On Monday Dec. 12th, 2011 we’re asking community organizations, rank-
and-file union members, residents and journalists to join Occupy
Vancouver at Callister park at noon for a 12-hour West Coast
Coordinated Port Shutdown. Our fellow Occupiers in San Diego, Los
Angeles, Oakland, Portland, Tacoma, and Seattle have asked us to stand
in solidarity with them and Occupy Vancouver has responded with a
resounding YES! We hope that you will join us in this action and
invite your sisters, brothers, neighbours and co-workers to
successfully block the Port of Vancouver. Bring your signs,
chants, passion, instruments, bikes, and revolutionary spirit!
Why?
Canada’s top 61 richest billionaires have a combined wealth of $162
billion and represent 0.0002% of the national population. These 61
individuals own twice as much wealth as the bottom 17 million
Canadians. BC has the highest child poverty rate in Canada for eight
years running and 12% of British Columbians – more than half a million
people – live below the poverty line. Real incomes in Canada since
1973 have increased only by $1,500 dollars, while the cost of living,
education and home ownership have increased exponentially. Workers
today toil longer hours, retire later and spend many more years and
money on their education than previous decades. In the 1950s, the
average family income based on one pay check could finance home
ownership, put kids through university and save for retirement; today
two people have to work sometimes multiple jobs to pay the rent, pay
off student loans and perhaps one day make room for a child. To
finance home ownership and people’s consumption habits, Canadians have
gone into serious household debt. The illusion of wealth is maintained
on borrowed money for the average Canadian.
The 1% declared war on the 99% a long time ago
The disparity between the rich and poor is growing at an exponential
rate. The working class has historically struggled, fought and died
for the gains that are currently being systematically stripped away,
often by force. The call for a port shutdown is a solidarity action –
a call to stand in solidarity with the longshoremen of Longview, WA
who are courageously fighting union-busting activities by the grain
company EGT. The collective bargaining rights of the working class has
been dramatically eroded. From the Canada Postal workers being
legislated back to work to flight attendants not striking for fear of
being declared an “essential service” the state crack down on union
power and theft of collective bargaining chips that ensure a living
wage, fair working conditions and benefits, has increased under the
pressures of an unstable global capitalist economy. It’s time to stand
up and unite as union workers, non-unionized workers, and surplus
labour and FIGHT BACK. We can’t wait for management to do this; it is
up to us to determine our destiny and struggle for the society we
want.
Our Strategy/ Dispelling Fears and Myths
The ports are public. They belong to everyone, including us. If Canada
is a democracy and a free country then we have every right to go to
the Port and protest. Every right to assert our economic power. The
99% make the economy run and we can make the economy halt. The 1% are
parasites that simply move capital – which belongs to EVERYONE – from
one region to the next. It’s time to reassert our collective power and
show that despite differences we can come together as a united front
and halt port activities for 12-hrs.
The ILWU, the longshoremen union that stretches across the West Coast,
has a history of honouring “community pickets.” If we can get enough
bodies to block the Port in Vancouver, arbitrators will be forced to get involved and declare working conditions unsafe, allowing the longshoremen to go home with a full
day’s pay! We assert our collective bargaining power AND shut down the port!
Call for Support
From our community to yours, we need you. From Vancouver to Los
Angeles, we’re behind you. From one human being to another, we can do
this. If the state can orchestrate a coordinated-crackdown of Occupy
movements, why shouldn’t we strike back and coordinate an action to
assert our collective power? United we are more powerful than any
individual action.
Mark your calendars: Dec. 12th @ noon @ Callister park, Renfrew &
Hastings, East Van.
To Learn More
http://westcoastportshutdown.org/content/coordinated-port-blockade-actions-schedules
The site for the Vancouver local of The Media Co-op has been archived and will no longer be updated. Please visit the main Media Co-op website to learn more about the organization.