South African Transport Union members have announced they will not offload Chinese arms that are being shipped to crisis-torn Zimbabwe.
A boat carrying an arms shipment destined for Zimbabwe is anchored at the South African port of Durban. However the South African Transport Workers' Union has already announced that their members will not offload any of the cargo, nor will any of their truckers transport it. The shipment containing "3 million rounds of ammunition for AK47 rifles (the standard assault weapon for the country's defence forces), 1,500 rocket propelled grenades, a support weapon for the infantry, and 3,500 mortar bombs is one of two coming from Chinese para-statal Ocean State Shipping company, the other of which is reported as being en route to Beira, Mozambique.

On May 1, all 29 ports on the U.S. West Coast are to be shut down by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) in protest against the U.S. war on Afghanistan and Iraq. The Bay Area ILWU local was the first American union to condemn the war. In April 2003, as invading U.S. troops reached Baghdad, six longshoremen were injured and a union official was arrested as police fired on hundreds of antiwar protesters in the port of Oakland.

Members of the Port Workers Union of Iraq plan to shutdown the ports of Umm Qasr and Khor Alzubair for one hour on May Day in solidarity with the shutdown of all West Coast ports by members of ILWU in opposition to the occupation of Iraq.

A caravan of horn-honking truck drivers rolled their rigs through Washington yesterday, protesting rising gasoline costs and demanding that Congress impose caps on prices at the pump.

The truckers, who formed a long column, circled the Mall about noon and blared their horns. Some spectators waved while others covered their ears.

posted by Scats : 5/01/2008 02:14:00 PM