Trucks backed up at Oakland; riot police push back Long Beach protesters

    Several hundred Occupy movement protesters blocked entrances to the Port of Oakland on Monday while police in riot gear lined up at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to block attempts to shut down work at ports along the West Coast.

    With the majority of protests fizzled out by midday, there weren't any major cargo disruptions except at the Port of Oakland.

    Riot police surrounded and methodically pushed back about 100 protesters who had been blocking access to the Port of Long Beach. By 9 a.m. the road leading to Terminal J was clear and traffic moving.

    Two large groups of protesters marched in circles around the two main truck entrances to the Port of Oakland, causing long backups of drayage trucks trying to enter the terminals.

    Protesters in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area gathered around 5 a.m. Pacific Time at Harry Bridges Park, near the Port of Long Beach. According to local reports, police ordered the protesters to leave the port
area.

    Officials at Port Metro Vancouver in British Columbia said their terminals were open for business Monday morning. In the most dramatic action yet associated with the movement that began as
Occupy Wall Street, protesters have vowed to shut down activity at the ports along the West Coast, including LA-Long Beach facilities that handle some 40 percent of U.S. inbound container traffic.

    The movement, which has called Dec. 12 Occupy the Ports day, is making the ports a flashpoint for a broad array of criticisms of the U.S. economy in the wake of the 2008 Wall Street meltdown. Occupy organizers have pointed to Goldman Sachs' part ownership of the SSA marine terminal at Long Beach.

(Source:joc.com)