On Nevember 7, there was a very successful organizing action in Tacoma tideflats the on behalf of the security workers for Maersk Shipping Lines. A very broad section of the activist community turned out en masse: Students for a Democratic Society, Jobs with Justice, America In Solidarity,IWW members, the Bill of Rights Defense Committee, ACLU, United for Peace, Catholic justice activists and the Longshore workers among other groups all came down to lend support in the demonstration and picket. Some came from as far away as Chehalis to holler, slow the process of loading and unloading and generally raise a peaceful ruckus. The weather was fine, many old friends were met and new friends made and a damn good time was had by all.

The security workers, who are subcontracted out to Maersk by  the Securitas company had been forced to sign on to the company-created bogus union as an end-run around the requirement that all security workers in the tideflats be unionized. It was a slimey sham-no shop steward, no meetings, no living wages or benefits so they decided to disenfranchise from the faux union and seek their own representation with the usual forseeable harassment from Maersk.They presented their case to Jobs with Justice who took it on with gusto. All organizing was done in person or on the phone with nothing in writing to prevent the management from catching wind of what was going to happen....

Out of the blue cars and vans pulled up and parked and people began to spill out with signs, noise-makers and bullhorns. The Longshore were there in hard-hats and with arms crossed looking sorta mean and ugly to make sure no one felt comfortable crossing the picket line.

Now with the security workers in the Port of Tacoma supporting the picket, who could Maersk call? The Tacoma Police, of course! Well, 5 or 6 police cars showed up, but ya know what...the Tacoma Police are union too, so after politely telling the demonstrators that the streets are public property and as long as they left one half of the street open and didn't actually block the entrance to Maersk, they sat back and had a real good time too! Negotiations were going on during the picket, which started at 5:00 and went on till about 8:30. As of this writing it is unknown what the results of the negotiations were, but the plan is to continue picketing until justice is served. For those wanting to get involved, Maersk is located on E 11th and Milwaukee Boulevard and there is ample parking on the street or, of course you could always carpool. Contact Jobs with Justice for more specific information.