SEATTLE — Informational pickets by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union are being organized regularly at several Puget Sound ports. They’re distributing leaflets explaining that American Cruise Lines is not using union labor to dock, load and unload their vessels at Washington ports.
Response from passengers to the leafleting was positive. One stopped to say he had been a union electrician all his life and “was with the ILWU” pickets.
A few cruise line workers talked with ILWU Local 19 pickets in Seattle’s Shilshole Bay Marina, saying workers are recruited across the country for about $1,000 per week, working 15 to 18 hours per day, with no safety protection. This works out to about $10 an hour.
On Sept. 19 five members of the Maritime Union of Australia joined the picket line. Gregory Hannon, who had been to a lively picket in Tacoma sponsored by ILWU Local 23, told the Militant, “We appreciate the solidarity and opportunity to exchange experiences with our brothers and sisters in the ILWU regarding the ongoing fight against automation.” Their next stop is going to be Vancouver, British Columbia, where longshore workers face the same issues.
In Seattle, the union pickets on Saturdays from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Dock A, 7001 Seaview Ave. NW.