From across the oceans they came. From Norway, Indonesia, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea--all to share their experiences and build bridges of solidarity during the Western Australia branch's conference.

After a day hearing from national and international maritime leaders, delegates to the Western Australia branch's conference seized an intersection to highlight the fight for a national stevedoring code of practice.

The ILWU has personally thanked the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) and President Paddy Crumlin after workers overwhelmingly approved the first labor contract ever at the Pacific Beach Hotel, ending 10 years of labor strife that wound up in the courts.

When the story first broke, when those 800 members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 63 Office Clerical Unit walked off their jobs and effectively shut down the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, it was treated by the media as your stereotypical union money-grab.

Four hundred and fifty office clerical workers ended their one-week strike to secure good jobs for working families in the harbor community by winning new protections that will help prevent jobs from being outsourced to Texas, Taiwan and beyond.

Paddy Crumlin, National Secretary of the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) and President of the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF), issued the following statement of solidarity relating to the Local 63 ILWU Clerical Workers who are currently on strike:

The ITF (International Transport Workers’ Federation) today reacted angrily to reports that trade union representatives’ phone calls had been bugged by their employers at the Port of Los Angeles, USA.

A war of words has erupted between employers and union representatives as industrial action by clerical workers in the adjacent ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach disrupts one of the world's largest container port complexes.

Security Officers at the Port of Portland signed an agreement with officials Saturday evening just 12 hours before a looming 6a.m. Sunday strike deadline that threatened to shut the Port over a dispute involving the possible outsourcing of good-paying security jobs. Today’s settlement will prevent the outsourcing of Security Officer jobs at the Port’s big terminals.

After nearly three months of negotiations, the multinational grain corporations operating in the Columbia River and Puget Sound have given local workers a final offer that demands deep concessions from workers, even though the companies have been successful under the current agreement and impasse has not been reached in negotiations.