Occupiers Aim to Shut West Coast Ports Today

For the Occupiers' second Big Act protesters are planning today to shut down 11 major West Coast ports from San Diego to Anchorage. They've launched the plan despite opposition from what appears to be a natural constituency for the 99% protesters: Unions. Leaders of the Longshoremen and other unions are not endorsing the action, even though union members marched with Occupy Oakland protesters when they shut the port there for six hours last month, notes AP.

"We're extremely supportive of the message of Occupy Oakland, and we did come out to support the November general strike, but we're not behind this one," a spokesman for a construction union told the San Francisco Chronicle. "When working people aren't involved in the decision on whether to shut down their jobs at the port, that's problematic. And we weren't consulted. Losing a day of wages is hard." But union members are divided on the action, and several are joining the protest. "The American working class is in a state of emergency," said a third-generation longshoreman. The movement might be down a few soldiers. Some 55 were busted yesterday when cops raided Occupy San Francisco. (More Longshoremen stories.)