The following was written by Michael Siegel aka @OakTownMike.
On the fence about this coming Monday’s West Coast Port Shutdown? Looking for ways to convince your neighbor to march with you at 5:30 in the morning to form a community picket line? There are many reasons to join the action. See below, and see you in the streets!
12. The Port Has Been Scandalous Since 1852. Oakland’s first mayor, Horace Carpentier, was the first cynical politician to manipulate the power and wealth of our tidelands for his personal benefit. In 1852, at the first government meeting of newly-formed Oakland, Mayor Carpentier was granted the entire Oakland waterfront in exchange for $5.00 and a promise to build a new schoolhouse and three wharfs. Carpentier would spend the next several decades reaping enormous profit from this public gift. Oaklanders protested: as early as November 1853, enraged residents rioted on the Oakland waterfront, demanding that City politicians recover the Port for the benefit of the People.[1] Nearly 160 years later, the struggle continues.
11. Foreclosure Profiteers Make Their Money Here. Goldman Sachs is one of the wealthiest and most powerful organizations in the world. This banking and financial services empire maintains assets greater than $900 billion. Goldman executives can take credit for many of the financial crises of the last decade, including insider trading, fraud, credit default swaps, and subprime mortgages. Despite reaping mass destruction on the People, the U.S. government (staffed by former Goldman execs) continues to give public funds to this private firm – in one recent example, Goldman received $10 billion from the U.S. Treasury, as part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program.[2] As we say, this bank got bailed out, and we got sold out. Meanwhile, Goldman is a primary investor in the SSA Marine shipping magnate, which operates a terminal at the Port of Oakland.
10. 25 Truckers. On October 26, 2011, 25 truck drivers at the Port of Los Angeles came to their workplace wearing union t-shirts. Their employer, Toll Global, an Australian transportation conglomerate, had refused to provide clean bathrooms or drinking water, much less improve the workers’ paltry wages and benefits. Every day, the workers had performed their role of carrying cargo to LA’s high-end fashion stores. But when the workers petitioned for better conditions and dared to show union solidarity, Toll Global fired them all.[3] The West Coast Port Shutdown is in solidarity with these workers, and with all of the 99% who continue to suffer under wage slavery.
9. The Port Commission’s Dereliction of Duty to the People of Oakland. Many of us are unaware that the “Port of Oakland” is simply a department of the City of Oakland. The Port leaders are nominated by the Mayor and confirmed by the City Council. Their duty, under the Charter, is to act “on behalf of the City.” More specifically, the Port Commission is required to turn over all surplus funds to the City of Oakland at the end of each fiscal year.
Rather than return money for use in supporting libraries, parks, small business loans and the like, however, the Port Commission always finds a way to spend the money – to ensure no “surplus” gets back to the People.[4]
8. Bloated Contracts and Assorted Self-Dealing. In the absence of political oversight or community pressure, the Port of Oakland has treated itself to a huge party at public expense. Port executives make far more than their counterparts at other public agencies. Their executive director, Omar Benjamin, makes $257,508 per year – over $120,000 more than Oakland Mayor Jean Quan, who earns $137,000 annually. The Port’s Chief Financial Officer makes $192,624 per year, 366% more than Oakland’s top financial officer. In general, Port executives earn 30% or 40% more than their City of Oakland counterparts.[5]
7. While Schools Close, the Port Invests in Unnecessary Infrastructure. Earlier this year, the Oakland Unified School District announced that it would close five historic schools—Lakeview, Santa Fe, Lazear, Marshall, and Maxwell Park—to save approximately $2 million.[6] Meanwhile, the Port of Oakland has squandered $85.6 million on speculative and unneeded projects, including improvements to the Oakland airport (now vastly underutilized) as well as a BART light rail airport connector designed to serve well-off travelers who won’t deign to catch the AirBart bus connection.[7]
6. Billionaire Burkle and Yucaipa. 1%er Ron Burkle is perhaps best known for partying with Bill Clinton and various women decades his younger. He is also the founder of Yucaipa Companies, a private equity firm that owns numerous “cold storage” facilities, including one at the Port of Oakland. Burkle has used his wealth to curry favor among the political elite, bankrolling numerous political campaigns including those of Bill and Hillary Clinton, Willie Brown, Al Gore, and Arnold Schwarzenegger.[8]
5. The City Council Could Change All of This. If the Oakland City Council had any nerve, they could demand that the Port Commissioners actually create a budget that ensures that the People of Oakland would benefit from Port profits. The Oakland Charter itself creates this power: under Section 703, at any time, a vote of six City Council members could recall one or all of the Port Commissioners.
4. Meanwhile, the Port Invests in Land with the People’s Money. Beyond infrastructure boondoggles and excessive salaries, the Port has a third way of avoiding payments to the City of Oakland: namely, real estate investments. Currently, the People’s money is caught up in huge development projects in Jack London Square, the Oak to Ninth estuary development project, and the Fruitvale and San Antonio districts. Instead of investing hundreds of millions of dollars to pay development companies and other private contractors (many of whom are not from this City), the Port should be investing in the People of Oakland.[9]
3. Stop Union-Busting in Longview, Washington, and Beyond. For generations, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 21 have provided a dedicated, reliable workforce for the publicly owned Port of Longview in Washington State. In recent years, the Longview Port invested hundreds of millions of dollars of public and private funds to develop a new grain-shipping facility. The multinational corporation EGT promised to respect the 80-year jurisdiction of ILWU when it was applying for public funds; in July 2011, however, EGT broke this promise and refused to hire ILWU workers.[10][11] Despite recent action by the International ILWU to disassociate itself from the West Coast Port Shutdown (which is based on the International’s need to protect itself from litigation), the Longview longshore workers have welcomed this upcoming demonstration of solidarity from Occupy movements from San Diego to Anchorage. The union members have been maintaining a 24/7 picket line since June—they are currently preparing winterized picket tents to deal with the long Washington winter—and they need our support![12]
2. Work to Sustain the Occupy Movements. In just over two months, Occupy Wall Street and countless Occupy hubs around the world have elevated the international discourse regarding the increasing disparity of wealth between the 99% and the 1%. Millions of people have engaged in this struggle, including many who were not previously politically active. Here in Oakland, we have captured the international imagination by organizing across lines of race and class, by standing up to police brutality, and by mobilizing to shut down the third-largest West Coast port on November 2, 2011. Despite our many victories, however, the struggle for economic justice is long from over. The inequitable distribution of wealth has not been corrected. The banks have not been sanctioned for their reprehensible conduct. The same politicians and political parties are still in control. As Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara once said, “Hasta la victoria, siempre!” We must continue until the battle is won.
1. Develop a Powerful New Tactic . . . for the Revolution. Okay, so some of you may not be totally bought in to the idea of radical social change. But if we examine the Occupy Wall Street movement in all of its forms, what we are really asking for is a transformational shift in our current economic and political system. Whether you call this “revolution” or “social change” or “lots and lots of reform,” the doctrinal language is not important. We are all talking about changing the system. And to do so, we are essentially in a negotiation with the 1%; they must be convinced that providing substantial concessions to working people is the only way out of this crisis. The West Coast Port Shutdown will hit the 1%—the bankers, the shippers, the transnational corporations—in their pocketbook. Of course, it won’t change the system overnight, but it will give the ruling elite something serious to think about.
[1] Waterfront Action, “Horace Carpentier.” Article at http://www.waterfrontaction.org/learn/horace.htm.
[2] Allan Sloan, “An Unsavory Slice of Subprime,” Washington Post (Oct. 16, 2007). Article at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/15/AR2007101501435.html.
[3] William Rogers, “Toll drivers ‘treated like dirt’ fired for speaking up,” Left Labor Reporter (Nov. 11, 2011). Article at http://leftlaborreporter.wordpress.com/2011/11/11/toll-drivers-treated-like-dirt-fired-for-speaking-up/.
[4] See Charter of the City of Oakland, Article VII, Sections 700-717. The Charter is online at http://library.municode.com/Html/16308/level2/THCHOA_ARTVIIPOOA.html.
[5] Source: SEIU Local 1021, Port Chapter.
[6] Katy Murphy, “Oakland school closures: Is a $2 million savings worth the cost?”, Oakland Tribune (Oct. 23, 2011). Available at http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_19172351.
[7] Port of Oakland, July 1, 2011, Press Release. Available at http://www.portofoakland.com/newsroom/pressrel/view.asp?id=229.
[8] Kim Masters, “Bill Clinton’s $20 Million Breakup,” The Daily Beast (Mar. 29, 2010). Available at http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2010/03/29/bill-clintons-20-million-breakup.html.
[9] Port of Oakland, “Development,” at http://www.portofoakland.com/realesta/developm.asp.
[10] Los Angeles Times Blog, “Hundreds of longshoremen storm grain terminal in Washington” (Sept. 8, 2011). Available at http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationnow/2011/09/ilwu-longshoremen-protest-longview.html.
[11] Longshore & Shipping News, “San Francisco unions support ILWU Local 21 at EGT” (reprint of Sept. 26, 2011, SF Labor Council resolution), at http://www.longshoreshippingnews.com/2011/10/san-francisco-unions-support-ilwu-local-21-at-egt.
[12] Mary Martin, “Longshore workers prepare for long fight,” The Militant (Dec. 5, 2011). Available at http://www.themilitant.com/2011/7544/754402.html.
Could you please address the issues of independent truckers, said to not want to join unions, and the idea that unions are looking to use #OO to pressure independents to join?
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Truck drivers at the ports are legally not allowed to join unions (in many cases, anyway) because they are designated independent contractors, ie not employees. We want them to be reclassified so that they have the right to join a union.
Thanks. Has #OO had contact with independent truckers? Do they have any way of representing themselves/organizing/being heard re: Port Blockade, #OO, and in general?
You seriously maintain that the BART connection is for well-off travelers? Travelers who are even a little bit well-off take a cab to the airport.
Yes, #OO folks are leafletting port truck drivers several times a week and are in contact with others who have been attempting to help organize these workers for years.
Thanks Scott. I’ve been asked these questions several times in the last few days, and wasn’t sure how to answer. I suspect many people in West Oakland specifically want to know, because so many of our neighbors are independent truckers.
Dear Sam, You are a great DJ! (great pointer to your dad when he fogort to tell us his name). I think the story you’re writing sounds awesome. A fanp.s. Steve, you’re good, too.
Also: I would like to single out West Oakland environmental champion Margaret Gordon – who the Mayor is trying to kick out – as a port commissioner on the people’s side. They should all be like her.
Sussu,
The federal government is the main source of the truck drivers becoming independent contractors, federal government let shipping become internation business or industry, America shipping company make-up less than 5% of the business worldwide. We as consumer wanting cheap goods, over the past 20 years have feed into the whole issues of local and global. Automation and computeration must be examine in the discussion. We as citizens, residents and those care about fairness need to have more public education, places to have the discussion open, freely to ask the questions about a industry which is an unknown stakeholder in everyone lives.
Kick her out? Her term expired and the mayor used her powers simply to re-appoint Mr. Imani to replace her.
While Gordon is a darling child of environmentalists and West Oaklanders (and does a superb job of advocating for those interests) she is a marginal and incoherent commissioner.
She simply doesn’t have the grasp of larger financial issues to make an effective commissioner.
One clarification to this piece: Port of Oakland funds could not be used to directly fund the Oakland Unified School District. In the past, however, the Port has used indirect means to fund Jerry Brown’s two Oakland charter schools. The Port granted a favorable lease agreement to the Oakland Military Institute. [1] And the Port and the City agreed to use income from billboards on Port land to benefit Oakland School for the Arts. [2] So, even though the payments wouldn’t be directly from the Airport to the schools, there might be a way to make the fund transfer happen through indirect means. Where there is a will, there is a way!
[1] http://www.portofoakland.com/portnyou/agendas_06/mari061221.asp
[2] http://www.eastbayexpress.com/ebx/jerry-brown-raised-12-million-for-his-two-oakland-schools/Content?oid=1712012
Why Shut Down the Port on Monday 12/12//11?
The Global Free Trade agreements, which currently regulate the flow of goods around the globe, have fundamentally changed our country, many would say for the worse. The effort to open up foreign markets, to remove barriers to trade was spearheaded by large corporations. They were the real benefactors of free trade policies, not the folks on Main Street who essentially compete with these multinational Goliaths.
The loss of good manufacturing jobs in America has been the most noticeable effect of these free trade policies, if not the loss of real purchasing power by most consumers in America. They wanted to escape the cost of both environmental and human rights regulations, which are part of the cost of doing business in America. They have no loyalty to the country or to their fellow Americans, let alone the environment. Only to their own self-serving preoccupation for more wealth and power.
Big business, the 1%, has had a great ride. For decades now they have enjoyed all the benefits of “free trade”, and for them it was virtually free. But not for small businesses. While the rich gained in numbers and power, the vast overwhelming majority of Americans saw their jobs vanish and their wages downsized. While company after company sought a higher rate of return in less regulated markets in Asia, Americans of all colors and stripes got the short end of a very long stick. Social programs have been gutted as our tax base has been taken away. Our ability to compete has been dramatically reduced by the lack of investment in our infrastructure and educational system. In short, it has put our communities at risk.
The Empire has found several new business friendly partners in Asia. That’s wonderful given we are not the ones suffering from the environmental degradation taking place at the behest of this disaster capitalism. We do not have to walk past the prisons labor camps and ask ourselves if the people behind those walls made the stuffed animal we gave to our child. No, we can all be blissfully ignorant and unconcerned because it’s not in our backyard.
New coal fired power plants are going on line every week in China to keep up with the demand for inexpensive goods manufactured in Communist China to be exported to America. Until the 1% are held thoroughly accountable, there is only one means by which the other 99% can demonstrate their support for local business, close the Port.
Free Trade comes with a genuine moral hazard, a Faustian bargain which will surely only get worse until we stand up to this ongoing abuse of power. We need to stop the 1% right where it hurts, right here, this coming Monday, at our Port. It’s time to stand up for Oaklanders. That starts when we shut down the Port of Oakland in solidarity with longshoremen, port workers and truckers and the SEIU on Monday 12/12/11.
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John Mulkins
Alameda CA
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Overwhelming convinced.. this should be on the front page of every newspaper but that won’t happen…
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It’s very convenient for Mr. Siegel to not provide the whole story about EGT in Longview. This issue is over union jurisdiction, not solely about locking out the ILWU.
EGT tried in good faith to negotiate with the ILWU, but it would not budge on its retirement benefits requirements. So EGT secured a contract with another union, the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local #701.
The jurisdictional issue is now in the courts, where it should be. For some to say that EGT refuses to hire union labor is not correct.
Wow, Mr. Siegel…don’t you also work at the law firm of Siegel and Yee? Where Alan Yee is a partner and was just appointed as a port commissioner?
That must make for some fun staff meetings!
If you look at where the cargo actually comes from, then it makes more sense for the Port of Oakland to give money to the San Joaquin school district, not the Oakland school district. Those residents should benefit more than Oakland’s, after all they are creating the wine, fruit and nuts and vegetables that transit the Port. Oakland produces very little, except a nice, shiny thug culture.
You can bash whomever you please if you back it up with facts. When you start making comments like Oakland and its thug culture, it hurts your credability. Now, why don’t you go and do some homework about how port cities make money because they control the commerce that goes in and out. Go all the way back to the silk roads.
The website is built is built in the silpme HTML code embedded in WordPress application.1. If your internet connection is low, it might display a part of the site. Sometimes high speed internet connection gets low.2. It is not your web browser because I do not allow pop ups on the site and don’t do any advertisement.3. The server is sometimes down and that might one of the reason.I am working on that issue and I do apologize for the inconvenience.
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People in the west oakland community are firmly against this action. Expect resistance!
That’s a lie. If you’re using the plural form of person to get a point across, it’s thin at best. Yes, there may be some people who are against it but if the port isn’t cleaned up, then even more people will have diseases like cancer and athsma. You’re only helping the 1% by making comments like that. I see through them.
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Well done! We should make your 12 reasons into a pamphlet that could be reworked based on new issues/new events but continue to educate Oaklanders as to the power of the Port and the fact that the people of the City have the right to share in it’s wealth!
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