The International Longshore and Warehouse Union declared an eight-hour strike to protest the war in Iraq. Since the ILWU controls every port along the U.S. Pacific Coast, including Seattle and Tacoma, this strike demonstrates the collective power of workers willing to use it. The Union passed an antiwar resolution to stop work in all U.S. West Coast ports for 8 hours to protest the Democrats' and Republicans' continuing to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Seattle’s ILWU Local 19 endorsed an anti-war march along the waterfront. Fliers for the march read “No Peace - No Work.” The rally called for an end to the war and highlighted the struggles of workers.

One of the speakers at the rally read a message sent by longshoremen in Iraq expressing support for the West Coast strike.

In Tacoma, America in Solidarity, a workers’ advocacy group, will host an evening program focused on effects of the Iraq War on working families. The event is scheduled to begin at 7 at the Washington State History Museum to be followed by a candlelight vigil.