Operations were temporarily shut down at the Port of Oakland
on May 17 after a truck being driven by a longshore worker was apparently
knocked into the water by a piece of machinery.
Longshoreman Manuel Stimpson, 78, of San Francisco had
worked at the port for about 47 years when he was killed after the truck
plunged into the San Francisco Bay.
“He’s a very loved man, he’s like a father to all of us,”
Frank Gaskin, a business agent with International Longshore and Warehouse Union
Local 10 said of Stimpson following the accident.
According to ILWU representatives, Stimpson was working as a
clerk and helping direct the placement of containers when the truck went into
the water near Berth 30 at the TraPac terminal at 1:36 pm.
The vehicle became stuck in the mud about 50 feet below
surface and it wasn’t until about 2:40 pm that port divers were able to pull
his body from the truck, according to police. The submerged truck was also
recovered.
As is traditional in incidents that result in fatalities,
the ILWU suspended work at the port for 24 hours following the accident.
The occurrence is under investigation by the union and the
California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, the state governmental
body commonly known as Cal/OSHA.
Last week’s death was the second fatal accident at the port
in seven months. In October 2012, a mechanic performing maintenance on a crane
died Oct. 24 after being caught in and crushed by a piece of heavy equipment.
Prior to that, however, there hadn’t been an incident at the port resulting in
a fatality in at least five years, according to Cal/OSHA.
