Market News

Occupy protesters eye West Coast ports

Occupy movement protestors have scheduled marches Monday in an attempt to shutdown West Coast ports. Demonstrations are planned for ports in Oakland, Los Angeles and Seattle.

Meanwhile, the ports are promoting the jobs they create and their economic impact.

Even a day-long shipping disruption is not good for farmers, said Mike Steenhoek, executive director of the Soy Transportation Coalition.

“This is an industry that exports over half of what soybean farmers produce and the Pacific Northwest, particularly Seattle, is one of the primary launching points for those exports,” said Steenhoek, “and so any kind of work stoppage or interruption of service is going to have a detrimental impact on U.S. agriculture,”

Occupy protestors commonly speak out against what they refer to as the 1 percent, the elite, however Steenhoek says port disruptions adversely affect farmers, transportation workers and Asian customers.

“Every one of those individuals are within the 99 percent; we’re not talking about the wealthy elite here,” said Steenhoek. “It just really seems incompatible with the stated purpose of the organization to picket and try to impose a work stoppage at our U.S. ports.”

According to an article in The Journal of Commerce, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union refused to sanction the march despite an Occupy flyer stating unity with the union in its battle with a company opening a terminal with non-union labor.

A union spokesman says members are working Monday if there are no health and safety issues.

AUDIO: Mike Steenhoek (5 min. MP3)