From: Merseyside Port Shop Stewards
Press Release: for immediate release
Monday 8 Sept 10:00 am

World Wide Dockers Solidarity

At daybreak on the picket line in the Port of Liverpool, sacked dockers heard first reports of the solidarity actions which will shake the shipping industry around the world today. It is already clear that:

• the Maritime Union of Australia will defy Government threats to bring troops on to the waterfront in the event of any strike, and all major ports will stop for 5 hours on the daytime and evening shifts. Brisbane, Newcastle, Sydney, Port Kembla, Melbourne, Burnie, Adelaide and Fremantle will all be affected. The Ken Loach documentary "Strike" ("The Flickering Flame") was screened Sunday on SBS TV.
• the International Longshore and Warehouse Union will shut every port on the West Coast of North America from Mexico to Alaska, for 8 hours from 6 p.m. tonight (2 a.m. BST). The action in Los Angeles and Long Beach will take place despite active opposition from the Pacific Maritime Association (employers organisation). Hapag Lloyd ships bound to and from Thamesport, where Mersey Docks acts as the Port Authority, are being delayed.
• The Danish port of Arhus is shut for 24 hours until 7 a.m. Tuesday, following a 60-23 vote by the membership in secret ballot this morning.
• The Swedish ports of Gothenburg, Stockholm, Malmo, and Helsinborg will stop all shipping to and from Liverpool and Sheerness (owned by Mersey Docks) and all ACL and CAST container traffic will be halted. Many other developments are expected and will be made public later today.

Sacked docker and international coordinator Terry Teague declared this morning,

"The action is exceeding all expectations and proves that Liverpool has become a symbol for all dockers who are determined to resist the threats of casual labour, mass sackings, and the deregulation of our industry. The Port of Liverpool is stagnating and will not recover until we achieve our reinstatement. We continue to seek meaningful negotiations, but our fight will go on and we intend to win."