Rocky shores: Representatives from Target, Walgreens, J.C. Penney, and Crate and Barrel tell Oakland port commissioners and staffers they’re prepared to bypass the city – and ship all their overseas merchandise through Los Angeles – if the locals can’t control the Occupy situation.
The reps point out that 40 percent of their imports come through Oakland, and say last week’s shutdown cost their companies hundreds of thousands of dollars in missed shipping deadlines.
Matier & Ross, http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/12/21/BA7S1MEUQE.DTL (12 Dec 2011)
13578
“It’s not just the importers that are diverting their shipments – it’s the almond shippers in the Central Valley, the broccoli shippers from Monterey, and other exporters of perishable goods grown by California farmers in the Central Valley.”
You supply no evidence that this occurring, let alone that it is occurring because of the port shut-downs.
“When they no longer have confidence in Oakland as a reliable and secure gateway,both importers and exporters will move their cargo through LA, Portland, Seattle, or even Canada and Mexico.”
People who talk like Armitage Shanks (“you better not take action in ‘X’ place because it will only hurt the people who live in ‘X’), when pressed, ALWAYS reveal themselves to be people who’re against taking action ANYWHERE. So, to his UNSUBSTANTIATED assertion that importers and exporters will move their cargo from Oakland to “LA, Portland, Seattle, or even Canada and Mexico,” the obvious rejoinder is that the struggle should SPREAD TO ALL OF THOSE PORTS.
Indeed, December 12 was a strong step toward spreading the struggle in just that manner. I wonder whether Armitage Shanks supported port shut-downs outside of Oakland; the internal logic of his “argument” suggests that he should, but I don’t think Armitage Shanks is concerned formulating an internally logical or consistent argument and course of action.
The one-day partial shutdown on Dec 12 was manageable by the shippers. They had ample time to prepare, advance or retard their cargo shipments, and so it was the truckers and ILWU who were impacted with no pay that day.
But there is a longer term lack of confidence building with shippers. It’s not just the importers that are diverting their shipments – it’s the almond shippers in the Central Valley, the broccoli shippers from Monterey, and other exporters of perishable goods grown by California farmers in the Central Valley.
When they no longer have confidence in Oakland as a reliable and secure gateway,both importers and exporters will move their cargo through LA, Portland, Seattle, or even Canada and Mexico.
The port is in debt to the tune of $1.4 billion, thanks to the overdevelopment of 10-12 years ago.
When cargo drops, so does revenue, and the ability to repay the debt, or maintain the required debt service coverage ratio.
With cargo leaving, it is conceivable the port could default and file for bankruptcy. Guess who would control the Port then? The underlying bond syndicate, including…you guessed it…the investment banks of Goldman Sachs, Citigroup Global Markets, BNP Paribas, etc.
A bankruptcy would have customers and shipping lines leaving in droves, creating a downward spiral of lost revenue, lost jobs, and once again, lost opportunities for Oakland.
I’m in total agreement that foreclosure eviction defense is vital, but I strongly disagree that it should be presented as an alternative to actions such as the port shut-down.
Movements that attempt to eradicate poverty, if serious, seek to amass power against the exploiters who own the economy and the American political system. The port shut-down wasn’t motivated chiefly by “zeal to hurt the 1%”; instead, it was motivated by a desire to demonstrate working class power against the power of the capitalist class, specifically in response to the police violence directed at the Occupy Movement *and* in solidarity with independent truckers and longshoreman in Longview, Washington.
It should be kept in mind that demands that aren’t backed-up with a CREDIBLE threat to take action that damages the interests of the ruling class are merely requests to be ignored.
When working class and dispossessed people rise-up, the ruling class *always* claims that the rebels are “only hurting those they claim to support” (or some variation on that theme). What the ruling class really is meaning to communicate is that *it* has the power (and inclination) to hurt those the rebels claim to support. This is meant as a threat in response to which the rebels are expected to pack in their tents and relent. Jeanne, in this sense, is responding *exactly* as the ruling class wants us to respond.
Now, this isn’t to argue that we should be impervious to the *possible* real-world impacts our collective actions may have. But if Jeanne can cite *any* rebellion (strike, occupation, or insurrection) that hasn’t provoked threats by the ruling class to take action that hurts the rebels and/or those they support, I’d like to hear about it. Indeed, I’m quite certain Jeanne draws inspiration from uprisings and rebellions that have elicited threats (and counter-actions) by the ruling class that were far more serious than the (undoubtedly hollow) ones the goons representing Crate and Barrel made the other day.
I would also point out that the source, Matier and Ross, are just professional muckrakers. Their stock in trade in trade is controversy, not truth.
It will truly suck if anyone loses a job because of the port shutdown, however I doubt it. Its been almost 2 weeks now and I havent read any right wing hacks gloating about lost jobs due to Occupy lefties run amok.
We should be conscious of the results of our actions, but not to the point of not doing anything. Every action will have results that we did not intend. It is impossible to predict what the insane people in power will do next!
But we can focus our energies at the centers of power. Disrupt their business as usual. Make it plain that things will not proceed quietly. And we are not going away.
What happens to the jobs if these people leave? I believe that in our zeal to hurt the 1% we may have forgotten our commitment to the other 99%. In my mind, it is time to get back on track. Please join Oakland Acts! if you would like to help the city http://www.facebook.com/groups/283267221715824/ or even offer suggestions. We just started an anti-poverty working group and as our first act we gave material support to the people at 10th and Mandela. More is needed. Thanks! Oaklandacts@gmail.com Thanks!