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Occupy Wall Street targets West Coast ports

Occupy Wall Street protesters turned their attention to West Coast ports on Monday. A picket line stopped tractor-trailers from entering the Port at Oakland; two longshoremen told Reuters they would not cross the picket line to get to their jobs. The San Francisco Chronicle reports about half of the Port’s berths were shut down and some 150 day-shift workers were sent home.

U.S. News reports protesters attempted to disrupt and block traffic going into the port at Long Beach, California but heavy rains prompted the protesters to disburse.

Protesters at Portland, Oregon disrupted traffic for a while then marched to the terminal entrance. The port said two of the four terminals were closed for the day and some 200 workers were told not to come to work on Monday.

The Seattle Post Intelligencer reports workers at the port in Longview, Washington were reportedly sent home out of concerns for health and safety. The port was scheduled to handle one ship on Monday. Meanwhile the paper says Port of Seattle officials are coordinating with local and federal authorities to make sure their facilities stay open.

The effort included Canadian ports, the Washington Post reports protesters blocked two gates at the Port Metro Vancouver briefly then blocked another gate for about 30 minutes.