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Bay Area Ports Shut Down For Safety 'Stand Down' After Death of Longshoreman In Benicia

OAKLAND (KCBS) — The Port of Oakland, along with other Bay Area ports have been shut down for 24 hours on Thursday due to safety procedure after a worker died late Wednesday night, an International Longshore and Warehouse Union official said.

Craig Meriless, the communications director for the ILWU, told KCBS that the ports are under a stand-down following the death of a longshoremen worker who died after having and unspecified medical emergency on the job at the Benicia Port shortly before midnight.

"There is a stand procedure that is followed—and has always been followed—and that is a safety stand down to make sure the port and the circumstances surrounding the death are safe for other workers," Meriless said.

The worker has been identified as Thomas Hoover.

The shutdown will impact truckers who line up early at the ports to unload their cargo.

Merilees says, while he regrets that the truckers will lose out on a day of pay the stand-down is meant benefit everyone, truckers and port workers.

"The longshore workers are in the same position; nobody is earning money today during the safety stand down," he said.

The safety stand down is not related to ongoing labor issues that have been impacting West Coast ports.

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