In an effort to stay relevant post-eviction, Occupiers from Los Angeles rallied at the Port of Long Beach Monday in an initiative stretching along the coast to block the economic hubs.

Occupy The Ports mobilized encampments in 14 coastal cities, including Portland, Seattle, Tacoma and Vancouver. Bleary-eyed supporters gathered at 5 a.m. in Long Beach's Harry Bridges Park for the "day of action," which organizers said would likely only last until 11 a.m. The movement's website said Monday's boycott was in protest of SSA Marine, a shipper owned by Goldman Sachs.

From Occupy Los Angeles:

SSA/Goldman Sachs symbolize the ruin that corporate greed has brought into our lives.

The 1% are depriving port truck drivers and other workers of decent pay, working conditions and the right to organize, even while the port of LA/LB is the largest in the US and a huge engine of profits for the 1%. The 1% have pursued a conscious policy of de-industrialization that has resulted in "trade" at the port meaning that there are 7 containers coming in for every one going out.

The 1% have driven migrant workers into a "grey market" economy and repression. The 1% use police brutality and repression, jails and prisons to suppress, divide and try to silence the 99% and all who oppose their insatiable greed. To put an end to all that, we call on the 99% to march, boycott, occupy the ports, and STRIKE on December 12 for full legalization, good jobs for all, equality and justice.

The recent shutdown of Occupy L.A.'s city hall home and an October firing of 26 port truckers who wore Teamster T-shirts to work added fuel to the fire. At least one person was arrested during Monday's boycott.

Evy Hubbs and Paul "Ish" Gomes drove through the night from Occupy Las Vegas to attend the Long Beach protest. They came to support the unions, they said. Gomes was adamant that reports of International Longshore and Warehouse Union leadership speaking out against the shutdown were a "misconception of the truth."

"We're in support of the unions," he said, "so why would they be against us? This is the freedom of protest." Gomes said he wanted to set an example. "We're showing unions how we organize our protests diplomatically, nationwide. These are non-union people, not paying dues, just doing it out of the kindness of their hearts."

According to Gomes, Monday's efforts would help unionized workers he said were incapable of rallying enough support to bring about change for themselves.

"Forget about the numbers you see on the Internet—look around you, he said. "Does this look like 10, 20, 30 people that some of the unions can't even get to protest for their rights that affect their jobs? Look at all the civilians that came out. This is a human movement."

Carrying picket signs and chanting "Same enemy, same fight, workers of the world unite," the civilians began their march. Roughly 200 people walked a mile along the port's edge through the early morning rain. Some represented groups like the Southern California Immigration Coalition; others had less formal connections to the fight.

Accountant Ernesto Nevarez said he'd been organizing the harbor for 25 years. "We've shut down this harbor numerous times, but this is the first time we've had outside help," he said. "We're euphoric the outside community has found out what is happening."

Nevarez was confident the day's protest wouldn't hurt port drivers in the long run. "Tomorrow they'll just have more work to make up for the work they lost today," he said. "The container's gotta go through, whether it be today or 50 percent more tomorrow, 50 percent more the next day. The drivers do not lose.

"Today's a day of awakening to where the power is," he continued. "It's the port. It's always been the port. The longshoremen have had a monopoly on the riches of this port. The glass wall around the harbor—it's gonna break. The word's out. We have to attack the harbors."

His enthusiasm coursed through the crowd, rising to a fevered pitch when protesters met a barrier of police motorcycles cutting off access to the gate at Pier J. Officers threatened arrest if demonstrators crossed their line onto private property. Some pushed through anyway. 

In a Mic Check, the call-and-response format used for delivering announcements to Occupiers, one organizer on the safe side of the line reassured protesters. "If we block the road… right here… we're still blocking the gate," she said. "It's the only road in… Let's see how it goes."

Not all Occupiers were satisfied with that response. Factions split off from the group. While some moved forward, others took a step back, scared off by the possibility of a criminal record.

The more aggressive demonstrators seemed to understand the divisions might undermine their message of solidarity. They moved back toward the majority, though not without voicing disapproval. From beyond the police line, they shouted "March! Come on!" at their hesitant peers.

Organizer Michael Novick spoke to the divided Occupiers through a megaphone. "We came out here today to have a community picket outside the port," he said. "If you want to be arrested, that's your choice. But most of us didn't come to do that." Novick held his ground inside the fray, even as a masked protester shoved the megaphone away from his mouth.

After several minutes of confusion, organizers herded demonstrators into a semi-circle 100 yards or so back from the police line, still blocking the pier's entrance. Cars and trucks carrying workers on their way into work lined up to face the crowd. Then they started to turn back.

Occupier Patrick, who declined to give his last name, monitored the situation from atop a bicycle. He said the turn-arounds were a sign of respect from unionized workers. "There's some solidarity from the workers in the ILWU—not the union as a whole, I want to make that clear," he said. "They've said they won't cross our picket line."

At least one longshoreman was irate with the protesters' showing. Getting out of his truck, he stopped to ask a policeman parked nearby, "How am I supposed to get into work?"

Las Vegas Occupiers Hubbs and Gomes didn't have the answer. "We're in support of, we're in solidarity with, but this is their march," Hubbs said, nodding to the L.A. and Long Beach natives. "What goes down is all unknown."

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