The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) carried out an eight-hour work stoppage at West Coast ports on May 1 to demand an end to the war in Iraq.

The work action halted activity at 29 ports from San Diego, California to Washington State. According to both the ILWU and the employers’ organization, the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), 25,000 dockworkers represented by the union did not report to work for the first shift on Thursday, shutting down the country’s principal gateway for cargo container traffic from the Far East. In the course of a typical work shift, some 10,000 containers are loaded and unloaded from ships docked at West Coast ports.

Under the slogan, “No Peace, No Work,” the “work holiday” was called on the traditional day of international workers’ solidarity as a demonstration of opposition to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. A resolution passed by the union in February called for an end to the occupation of Iraq and for the troops to be brought home immediately.

SAN FRANCISCO, (IPS) - Arturo Gonzalez delivered his closing arguments inside a packed courtroom on the 17th floor of the Federal Building in downtown San Francisco.

A partner at the gigantic corporate law firm Morrison and Forrester, he's part of a team of lawyers seeking to force the Department of Veterans' Affairs to provide better health care and more timely disability benefits to returning Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans.

The case, officially known as Veterans for Common Sense vs. Peake, represents the first class action lawsuit brought on behalf of the 1.7 million U.S. citizens who served in the war zones. Veterans say that over the last six years, the George W. Bush administration has systematically denied veterans the health care they were promised and that they went to court as a last resort.

Almost 40 people turned out on Iraq Moratorium Day #8 in Hayward Wisconsin at a Vigil for Peace sponsored by Peace North and Veterans for Peace Chapter 153. The event was marked by our demand for a ceasefire in Iraq, which was broadcst live over WOJB radio in an interview between event organizer Steve Carlson, and WOJB Public Affairs director Eric Schubring.

We demand that the Bush administration explore the possibility of negotiating a ceasefire of hostilities in Iraq, and we encourage Iraq Moratorium organizers and supporters from around the country, and the world, to echo a similar demand. We believe that a ceasefire would be a reasonable first step toward the safe and orderly withdrawal of American soldiers from Iraq, and the best way to ensure the safety of the Iraqi people.