The Occupy Oakland protesters' call for a general strike yesterday largely fizzled out as organisers failed to rally significant support from unions, but protesters brought operations at the Port of Oakland to a halt, reported The Wall Street Journal.
Maritime operations at the port, one of the biggest container ports in the US, were "effectively shut down" yesterday by demonstrators, said port officials. They added they would resume work "when it is safe and secure to do so."
Occupy Oakland, the West Coast's most volatile branch of the Occupy Wall Street movement, said on its website that it was "asking all workers to go on strike, call a vacation day or simply walk off the job." Last week, demonstrators and police clashed in violent skirmishes that caught international attention.
But relatively few workers headed the strike call, raising questions about the breadth of the movement's support.
Police estimated a crowd of about 3,000 had gathered at the Port of Oakland by about 5 pm. Some had marched from the city's downtown, while others had been bused to the port.
Although Oakland Mayor Jean Quan gave permission to most city employees to observe the strike call if they wanted, spokeswoman Karen Boyd said few of the 4,000 workers did.
About 40 Port of Oakland workers didn't show up at the largest hiring hall for the 325 daily jobs, said Craig Merrilees, a spokesman for the International Longshore and Warehouse Union's national headquarters in San Francisco. Port officials said they closed their administrative offices early as a precaution. Some marine terminals planned to close early as well.
Some protesters in the city broke windows of banks and businesses and spray-painted slogans on ATMs. Many stores near City Hall were shut. At the University of California headquarters, officials asked the approximately 1,300 employees to work from home in case of transit troubles.
Organised labour mostly participated in the strike call by showing moral support for the Occupy protesters, said Josie Camacho, executive secretary treasurer of the Alameda Labor Council, an umbrella group for local unions.
Maritime operations at the port, one of the biggest container ports in the US, were "effectively shut down" yesterday by demonstrators, said port officials. They added they would resume work "when it is safe and secure to do so."
Occupy Oakland, the West Coast's most volatile branch of the Occupy Wall Street movement, said on its website that it was "asking all workers to go on strike, call a vacation day or simply walk off the job." Last week, demonstrators and police clashed in violent skirmishes that caught international attention.
But relatively few workers headed the strike call, raising questions about the breadth of the movement's support.
Police estimated a crowd of about 3,000 had gathered at the Port of Oakland by about 5 pm. Some had marched from the city's downtown, while others had been bused to the port.
Although Oakland Mayor Jean Quan gave permission to most city employees to observe the strike call if they wanted, spokeswoman Karen Boyd said few of the 4,000 workers did.
About 40 Port of Oakland workers didn't show up at the largest hiring hall for the 325 daily jobs, said Craig Merrilees, a spokesman for the International Longshore and Warehouse Union's national headquarters in San Francisco. Port officials said they closed their administrative offices early as a precaution. Some marine terminals planned to close early as well.
Some protesters in the city broke windows of banks and businesses and spray-painted slogans on ATMs. Many stores near City Hall were shut. At the University of California headquarters, officials asked the approximately 1,300 employees to work from home in case of transit troubles.
Organised labour mostly participated in the strike call by showing moral support for the Occupy protesters, said Josie Camacho, executive secretary treasurer of the Alameda Labor Council, an umbrella group for local unions.