A haunting image of the Port of Seattle and its cargo, courtesy of Seattlest Flickr contributor slippery joaquin

Longshoremen at the Ports of Seattle and Tacoma are conducting a walk-out today to protest U.S. military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan. Despite warnings from a Union arbitrator that all longshoremen must report to work on Thursday, reports from the Port of Seattle say that only a handful of workers showed up for their scheduled shifts. Officials from the Port of Tacoma say that virtually all of their workers failed to report to work this morning.

Despite the union-wide warning, local union leaders gave their blessing to their 2,000 longshoremen members if they chose not to report to work today. Union spokesperson Craig Merrilees danced a fine line between fully defying the arbitrators' decision saying:

"The decision by members to take a day off work on May 1 to protest the war is their right under the U.S. Constitution and it's about time that citizens stood up to tell the truth about the need to end the war."

The effect of the protest extends much further than the Port of Tacoma; Steve Getzug, spokesman for the Pacific Maritime Association, said, "Thousands of workers at ports all along the West Coast failed to report to work, bringing a halt to cargo traffic." Dock workers have reached an agreement to move perishable items and emergency supplies without being considered scabs.