What started on May 1, 2006 as some of the largest political demonstrations in U.S. history for immigrants' rights have in 2008 brought together three fronts -- labor, immigrant, and antiwar -- in one struggle for peace and social justice.

The work stoppage at all 29 West Coast ports on May 1, 2008 by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) was an historic turning point for the U.S. labor movement. For the first time in more than seventy years, a major U.S. trade union led marches and a system-wide strike on May Day. And for the first time ever, it was not for economic reasons, but for the political demand to end the disastrous and debilitating U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The work stoppage by 25,000 dockworkers idled towering cranes and closed ports from Seattle to San Diego. Truckers refused to cross picket lines. The backlogged ports handle the steady stream of manufactured goods from off-shored factories in Asia in the new globalized economy. Read More

see also: 40-page Report from Around the World | May Day becomes an annual tradition for immigrant and workers' rights | US-IMC | Indymedia.org

Indybay 2008 May Day Coverage: San Jose: May Day Becomes an Annual Tradition for Immigrant and Workers' Rights || San Francisco State Students Walk Out, Join Workers on May Day || DASW Calls for End to the Targeting of Immigrants and Latinos to Enlist || ILWU Shuts Down All West Coast Ports To Protest War || May Day 2008 Actions in Santa Cruz and Watsonville || May Day Protests in Arcata || Reclaim the Streets In San Francisco || "Reel Work" and Solidarity at 2008 May Day Labor Film Festival || May 1st 2008 Immigrant Rights Marches and Rallies