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Oakland Leaders Prep For 'Occupy' Port Shutdown Attempt

OAKLAND (KCBS) – Oakland Mayor Jean Quan and other city officials are working this weekend, preparing for plans by occupy protesters to shut down the city's port on Monday.

Demonstrators across the West Coast are planning to try to shut down all 11 ports, from San Diego to Alaska.

The effort comes after thousands of protesters closed the Port of Oakland during a one-day general strike on November 2. But this time around, Mayor Quan said the unions are not backing the planned action.

KCBS' Chris Filippi Reports:

"A lot of the union leaders at the port and the commissioners are asking the community to really think if this will help the 99 percent," she said. "The port could potentially lose business."

Quan said she has been talking with officials and law enforcement as well to determine the best strategies for keeping the port open for business as usual on Monday.

"The port has asked us to keep it open. We're going to try to do our best to keep it open," said Quan. "As the mayor of the city, I'd ask people, why are you doing this?"

Quan has written an open later to protesters, questioning what would be accomplished by a port closure. She is also urging them to make their point in a peaceful manner.

Despite that, organizers said that it's necessary to punish the one-percent.

(Copyright 2011 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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