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Occupy Protesters Target US, Canadian Ports


A protester faces a line of riot police during the Occupy movements' attempt to shut down west coast ports in Long Beach, California, December 12, 2011.
A protester faces a line of riot police during the Occupy movements' attempt to shut down west coast ports in Long Beach, California, December 12, 2011.

Hundreds of anti-Wall Street protesters blocked gates Monday at some of the West Coast's busiest ports in the U.S. and Canada, as part of a nearly three-month-old movement against what they say is corporate greed.

The protests caused a partial shut down of operations at some of the terminals in Oakland, California, and Portland, Oregon.

In Portland, hundreds of protesters blocked entrances at two terminals preventing trucks from entering. Employees of the terminals were told to stay home from work. In Oakland, unions representing dock workers and longshoremen sent workers home after hundreds of protesters blocked an entrance to the port.

Similar demonstrations are taking place in Anchorage, Alaska, Los Angeles, California, San Diego, California, and Seattle, Washington, as well as in the Canadian city of Vancouver.

The demonstrations are called "Wall Street on the Waterfront" and are targeting SSA Marine, a shipping company that is partially owned by investment bank Goldman Sachs. Protesters accuse the company of unfair labor practices and union busting.

Goldman Sachs has been a regular target of the anti-Wall Street campaign.

The Occupy Wall Street movement began in New York in September. It says it represents the "99 percent" - those outside the top 1 percent of wealth holders.

Last week, Occupy protesters in Washington joined thousands of people, including jobless and underemployed Americans, for three days of demonstrations to press an agenda of jobs and economic equality.

Some information for this report was provided by AP.

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