Port Of LA Workers Hold Strike To Commemorate Juneteenth
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – Tens of thousands of dockworkers at the Port of Los Angeles and up and down the West Coast are walking off the job Friday to honor Juneteenth, the day that commemorates the end of slavery in the United States.
The Port of L.A. reported Thursday that workers with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Coast Longshore Division would stop work for the first eight-hour shift Friday, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
ILWU reported that workers at 29 West Coast ports would take part in the strike.
"On June 19, ILWU workers and their local unions up and down the West Coast will take action to reject racism, hate, and intolerance at this unprecedented moment in time amid a global pandemic, domestic unrest made worse by a president who sows the seeds of division for his own personal gain, and systematic racism laid bare by the recent brutal murder of Mr. Floyd," ILWU said in a statement.
Sens. Kamala Harris and Cory Booker Thursday said that a group of Senate Democrats will introduce a bill to make June 19 a national holiday.