Thousands of workers at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach took to the streets on Thursday to call for an end to the war in Iraq.

"Longshore workers are standing-down on the job and standing up for America," Bob McEllrath, International Longshore & Warehouse Union (ILWU) president, said in a statement.

"We're supporting the troops and telling politicians in Washington that it's time to end the war in Iraq."

Art Wong of the Port of Long Beach said the action was affecting that facility. Arley Baker, a spokesman for the Port of Los Angeles, said none of the cargo terminals at that facility were operating.

"It amounts to a 'blue flu' or a 'May Day flu,' where longshore workers are calling in sick," Baker said.

Another spokesperson for the ILWU tried to minimize the action.

What port officials called a work stoppage, communications consultant Bill Orton said was a regularly scheduled membership meeting at which the war in Iraq would be discussed by port workers between noon and 3:30 p.m..

A judge has ruled a work stoppage would violate the union's contract with the port companies, according to the Pacific Maritime Association, which represents companies at the ports.