Click here to listen to the 8:00 am PST report from KPFK Reporter Ernesto Arce

Click here to listen to the 8:30 am PST report from KPFK Reporter Ernesto Arce

Click here to listen to the extended 8:40 am PST report from KPFK Reporter Ernesto Arce and Occupy LA member Michael Novick | Click here to listen to the whole show

A coalition of protestors along the West Coast are gathering at ports in an effort to shut them down. At the port of Long Beach protestors from Occupy LA and others are facing police and possible arrest as they try to shut down the nation’s second busiest port. The action began in the early morning hours when protestors gathered at pier J to form a picket line, which the International Longshore Warehouse Union said it would not cross. Protestors are reporting they succeeded in disrupting the 6am and 8am shift change. A planned march into the port was thwarted by police who prohibited protestors from walking into the area, allowing only vehicle traffic to port entrances. At least two protestors, a man named Nathan from Occupy Riverside was arrested, and LA based activist Kwazi Nkrumah (who was scheduled to be Uprising’s live guest), was arrested while attempting to walk to pier J. Live video from the scene shows police using batons to keep the line of protestors behind the terminal J entrance. This action follows Occupy Oakland’s November 3rd general strike and successful port shutdown. Protestors are holding actions today at the port of Oakland, Portland, Oregon, and port of San Diego. LA protestors say the shipping company SSA Marine is one target of today’s action for engaging in poor labor practices. In New York, Occupy Wall Street activists planned a march from Zucotti Park to Goldman Sachs’ headquarters in solidarity with the West Coast actions.

GUESTS: Ernesto Arce, KPFK News Reporter, Michael Novick, one of the organizers of the Occupy LA ports action