Longshoremen walk out to grieve for dead colleague

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.insidebayarea.com/dailyreview/localnews/ci_7002608

By William Brand, Francine Brevetti and Erik N. Nelson, STAFF WRITERS
Article Last Updated: 09/26/2007 08:01:48 AM PDT

The entire Port of Oakland shipping operation shut down Tuesday as longshoremen walked out to mark the death of one of their comrades in an apparent container loading accident aboard a German freighter.

The work stoppage — which was instituted by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, not by the port — idled hundreds of port workers and truck drivers, and was expected to end this morning.


The Port of Oakland shut down Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2007 after a longshoreman was killed in an accident at the Hapag-Llyod terminal on Monday. (LAURA A. ODA Staff)


The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the accident that killed Reginald Ross, 39, of San Francisco.

The Alameda County Coroner's Bureau said Ross was apparently struck by a shipping container as he worked aboard the CMS Stuttgart Express, a Hapag-Lloyd container ship.

No one witnessed the accident, which happened about 4:30 p.m. Monday, the coroner's office said. Workers at the port, however, said the man was lashing the crossbars on a containerload together and one of the crossbars struck him in the chest. The report could not immediately be confirmed. Coroners' deputies had to use a cargo lift to remove the body from the ship, a deputy said.

"In more than seven years, this is the first time I'm aware of a fatal injury accident of a longshore worker,'" said port spokeswoman Marilyn Sandifur.

FULL story at link.