OAKLAND, Calif. -- Terminal operators say West Coast cargo traffic has come to a halt as port workers stage daylong anti-war protests.

Pacific Maritime Association spokesman Steve Getzug said about 25,000 dockworkers did not show up to work Thursday morning, leaving ships and thousands of truck drivers idle at ports from Oakland to Long Beach and to Seattle.

SLIDESHOW: Protesters Try To Shut Down Port Of Oakland

Workers are expected to return to work for the start of the Thursday evening shift.

Protesters were walking picket lines Thursday morning at the Port of Oakland in an effort to convince truckers to take part in the shutdown.



The West Coast ports are the nation's principal gateway for cargo container traffic from the Far East.

Small groups of protesters stopped trucks as they approached port facilities.

They were trying to get truck drivers to participate in the protest against U.S. military conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The truckers were not being blocked from the facilities, but were being allowed to proceed if they wanted.

"Big foreign corporations that control global shipping aren't loyal or accountable to any country," union President Bob McEllrath said in a prepared statement. "For them it's all about making money. But longshore workers are different. We're loyal to America, and we won't stand by while our country, our troops and our economy are destroyed by a war that's bankrupting us to the tune of $3 trillion. It's time to stand up, and we're doing our part today."

In February, dock workers requested to stop work during the May 1 day shift at all 29 West Coast ports to call for an end to the war, said Steve Getzug, of the Pacific Maritime Association, the union's employer.

Thursday's picketing occurred after an arbitrator told the union that represents dockworkers at West Coast ports that workers must show up for their jobs Thursday.

The strike is being called a "one-day" strike by participants.

J. Craig Shearman, a spokesman for the National Retail Federation, said shippers and exporters planned for the slowdown that coincides with May Day and expected no significant, long-term disruptions.

During a phone hearing with union representatives and officials with the Pacific Maritime Association Wednesday morning, Coast Arbitrator John Kagel announced the order intended to force members to report for work.

According to Kagel's proceedings, he previously ordered the union on April 24 to inform its locals and individual members that they must work a normal day Thursday.

The Maritime Association, which employs the port workers, approached Kagel again because of information that came to light about what the union was reportedly telling its members.

"It was clear to us today that the ILWU is saying one thing and doing another," said association spokesman Steve Getzug.

Despite the fact that the union previously said participating in the protests was voluntary, Getzug said there was "increasing information that the union is telling union members not to show up for work."

But, according to Kagel, "the union maintains that the information received by the employers (the Pacific Maritime Association) is hearsay and thus not to be credited."

"The reason why the Pacific Maritime Association has taken the steps ahead of tomorrow is because any disruption on the water is unacceptable," said Getzug Wednesday.

He added that "thousands of jobs are affected beyond the waterfront."

One of many protests planned for Thursday in California, Oregon and Washington will be in San Francisco, where workers planned to meet at the local union office at 10 a.m. before marching along Embarcadero to Justin Herman Plaza for a noon rally.

MORE: Bay Area Protests Planned

Scheduled speakers include Danny Glover, Cindy Sheehan and Daniel Ellsberg.

Clarence Thomas, an executive board member of San Francisco-based International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 10 said, "This is an historic event, the first time in recent memory American workers have stopped work to stop a war."