Longshore Union Dock Workers Defy Obama Administration NLRB anti-union injunction. Protest Grows

[Better Believe It]

Washington State Longshore Workers Dump Scab Grain to Protect Jobs
Before dawn today, 500 people broke down terminal gates, prevented security guards from interfering, and cut the train’s brake lines.
by Evan Rohar and Jane Slaughter
September 8, 2011

The confrontation between West Coast longshore workers and an anti-union exporter exploded as pickets massed on railroad tracks by the hundreds yesterday to block grain shipments.

Police used clubs and pepper spray on protesters in Longview, Washington, as they made 19 arrests.

Ports in Washington shut down completely Thursday as hundreds of longshore workers rushed to Longview, in the state’s southwestern corner.

Defied Restraining Order

In a series of protests since July, ILWU members and supporters sat down on train tracks and occupied the new terminal, resulting in 100 arrests. As picketing continued, no trains had attempted to bring in grain shipments since July. But last week a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order at the request of the National Labor Relations Board, which said ILWU pickets had harassed EGT workers.

Please read the full article at:

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/09/08-6




ILWU President Bob McEllrath was detained by police as longshore workers massed on railroad tracks to stop a shipment of grain to a non-ILWU terminal. ILWU spokesman Craig Merrilees said, “When corporations and the government turn their backs on working families, it shouldn’t surprise anyone to see people step forward and try to fight back.”



A union worker blocks a grain train in Longview, Wash., Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2011. Longshoremen blocked the train as part of an escalating dispute about labor at the EGT grain terminal at the Port of Longview.

[Robb]

1. How is an issue which is ILWU vs. IUOE "anti-union"?

[TheWraith]

4. Because it can be tied to the Obama administration, of course!

Anything Obama does is anti-union and evil, even when it favors unions. :eyes:

[sabrina 1]

19. How is this favoring Unions?

[Name removed]

22. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[sulphurdunn]

5. Because the IUOE

is trying to muscle in on the docks like the Teamsters once did. The longshoreman have a union contract with the Port of Longview to hire only ILWU members on its docks. The consortium EGT has grain storage facilities at the Port of Longview, but says it is not obliged to honor the contract (no surprise there). EGT is a foreign owned consortium. First, it tried to bring in non-union workers at greatly reduced wages and failed. Bringing in the IUOE was a secondary strategy. If EGT wins this fight, don't expect the IUOE to have a contract with them for long. They will be gone and the shippers will have set a precedent that will advance their cause of busting the ILWU.

[wickerwoman]

15. Thanks for this.

Very clear summary.

[Better Believe It]

17. Yes. Thanks for the information.

IUOE is not noted for being a militant union. This is more like a raid on the docks which the Longshore workers union has always represented and it's possible the IUOE officials are offering EGT a "sweetheart" contract in return for dues check-off.

[sabrina 1]

18. Thank you for the explanation. I had a feeling it was something

like that.

'First, it tried to bring in non-union workers at greatly reduced wages and failed. Bringing in the IUOE was a secondary strategy'.

[W_HAMILTON]

25. Sulphurdunn...

...do you have a link stating where EGT tried to first bring in non-union workers?

[sulphurdunn]

26. Initially, EGT violated

an understanding it had with the community of Longview to use local union construction labor to build the facility. Instead, it imported non-union labor from out of state where possible. After breaking off negotiations with ILWU, EGT hired a subcontractor to hire employees from the OEU Local 21 to replace the ILWU. These workers have a contract with the subcontractor, not with EGT. They are scabs, plain and simple. No union worker EVER crosses a picket line and remains one in anything but name only.

http://www.thestand.org/2011/09/heres-why-longshore-workers-are-so-angry/

http://www.salem-news.com/articles/july172011/ilwu-resists.php

http://www.icl-fi.org/english/wv/984/ilwu.html

http://www.longshoreshippingnews.com/2011/09/robert-mcellrath-ilwu-international-president-we-will-not-permit-egt-to-undermine-the-grain-export-industry/

[Luminous Animal]

9. The issue is not between the unions. The issue is between EGT and it's union busting

activities.

IUOE workers, in this case, are scabs.

[Brickbat]

10. Because unions can scab just like people do. It's sad and disgusting, but it happens.

[DrunkenBoat]

12. Because IUOE is scabbing to break ILWU.

[backscatter712]

16. That sums it up.

EGT wanted to bust a union, so it hired a bunch of scabs and threw them into a different union they could keep under their thumb. The old divide and conquer strategy.

Scabs get picked. Just sayin'...

[socialist_n_TN]

33. The OE have been described as "scabs"

by many of the west coast AFL-CIO councils. They've sided with management in this battle for the crumbs from the capitalist's tables, knowing that eventually the company will go to nonunion labor ENTIRELY.

A little more on this from a few weeks ago:

http://www.workerspower.net/ilwu-battling-back-on-longview-ports

[FreakinDJ]

2. Good for them

[hifiguy]

3. Verrry interesting.

I smell a metaphorical fuse being lit. Wonder if the spark will catch....

[amborin]

6. Kudos to Harry Bridges' union and legacy!

[girl gone mad]

7. They should just bend over and take it because Perry would be worse!

:sarcasm:

[woo me with science]

24. +1

People perceive very few options left when both parties have been bought and voting doesn't work anymore.

[white_wolf]

8. I beleive socialist_n-TN wrote an article about this a couple months ago.

I'll try and dig up the thread if he doesn't post it here fist.

[gratuitous]

11. Apparently, contract obligations are only supposed to go one way

And we'll even see folks at DU applaud the port's union-busting efforts to take work and wages away from the workers and their union who negotiated the contract. Obligations are only for the little people; the bosses can break a contract and get backing from the NLRB, which is apparently still a little fuzzy on the concept of worker rights.

[Generic Other]

13. I am ready to go stand with them

[Nostradammit]

23. That's frickin' awesome!!!

Thanks for posting that.

Sums it up perfectly.

[Hugabear]

32. I would K&R that cartoon if I could

Excellent!

[Odin2005]

37. Just sent that to my dad, thanks!

[Occulus]

30. The same thing is happeneing RIGHT NOW in every discussion of the USPS

and I mean every discussion on DU about the USPS.

Just search; it's all there. As an employee in a distribution center (I get to do the heavy lifting, literally), I'm trying to combat it as best I can, but I'm only one voice and I can only do so much.

[leftstreet]

14. K&R

[Better Believe It]

20. Update: Federal Judge Orders Longshore Workers to stop using militant tactics.

Judge warns Wash. union to halt illegal tactics
CBS News
September 8, 2011

A federal judge ordered union protesters to stop using illegal tactics Thursday as they battle for the right to work at a new grain terminal in Washington state.

U.S. District Judge Ronald Leighton issued a preliminary injunction to restrict union activity, saying there was no defense for the aggressive tactics used in recent days. Protesters twice blocked the pathway of a train carrying grain to the terminal at the Port of Longview on Wednesday, and early Thursday morning hundreds of them stormed the facility, overwhelmed guards, dumped grain and broke windows, police said.

The dispute halted work at four other Washington ports, including Seattle, on Thursday as hundreds of longshoremen refused to show up or walked off the job.

Leighton said he felt like a paper tiger because the International Longshore and Warehouse Union clearly ignored a temporary restraining order he issued last week with similar limits. He scheduled a hearing for next Thursday to determine whether the union should be held in civil contempt.

Read the full article at:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/09/08/national/main20103693.shtml



A man stands near railroad tracks while a train moves forward as a crowd of union workers and supporters gather at a crossing in Vancouver, Washington. Hundreds of Longshoremen were at the crossing as part of an escalating dispute about labor at the EGT grain terminal at the Port of Longview, Washington.

[FarLeftFist]

21. This is like Atlas Shrugged in real life. Sickening.

[blindpig]

27. k&r

[Better Believe It]

28. Obama Administration NLRB Intervenes To Stop Longshore Workers Union Strike Activity!

NLRB Investigates Longshoremen Union for Strike Gone Wrong
Fox News
September 9, 2011

.... in an unusual twist, the National Labor Relations Board succeeded in getting a federal judge to issue a preliminary injunction Thursday against further union activity at the Port of Longview after the union ignored the temporary restraining order that he issued a week earlier.

The agency will hold a hearing next month to determine whether further restrictions are warranted.

NLRB spokeswoman Nancy Cleeland said it was not common for the agency to take action against unions.

"In those cases where we do to court, the majority of petitions are against employers, but that simply reflects our cases," she told FoxNews.com. "The majority of charges filed with the NLRB are against employers."

Read the full article at:

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/09/09/nlrb-investigates-longshoremen-union-for-strike-gone-wrong/

[Bobbie Jo]

29. Finally.

Ladies and Gentleman, The Fox News Link.

Somehow I knew we would see it eventually.

[socialist_n_TN]

34. Everybody needs to understand that

EVERY ACTION THAT HELPS THE WORKING CLASS TO THE DETRIMENT OF THE EXPLOITERS WILL BE ILLEGAL! Period and end of story. So if you want to help the working class INSTEAD of the capitalists, prepare yourself to be "illegal". That's just the way of the world in our capitalist system.

[annm4peace]

31. the police should refuse to arrest the union workers

Police should follow WI lead and refuse to cross the line.

[Better Believe It]

35. The Longview longshore workers protest is grassroots in the tradition of the real Boston Tea Party

The Fighting Side of Me
Organized Labor’s Great Day at Longview
by DAVID MACARAY
September 9, 2011

Yesterday, September 8, a group of longshoremen estimated at between 500-1,000, all members of the ILWU (International Longshore and Warehouse Union), stormed the gates a Longview grain terminal (located in southwestern Washington state) to protest the company’s (EGT Development) anti-union policies. The ILWU insists that the EGT contract, along with the provisions of the Northwest Grainhandlers Agreement, guarantee ILWU representation.

After overwhelming Longview’s security guards, the longshoremen allegedly dumped grain, broke the windows of the guard shack, and severed the brake lines of several railroad cars. Police were called in and 19 arrests were made. Meanwhile, dockworkers in Seattle, Tacoma and Everett walked off their jobs in support of the Longview action.

The Longshoremen are understandably outraged. Besides the prospect of losing jobs that were promised to them, the ILWU is fearful of the long-term effects this audacious end-run could have. They fear that EGT will break the relatively weak IUOE (Local 701), and that after busting this union and coming away perceived as the victor (a la Ronald Reagan with PATCO), they will move against the ILWU, undermining contracts up and down the west coast.

And as for those upright, uptight citizens who will condemn the Longview demonstration as “lawless” or “renegade,” they need to recalibrate. They need to see this thing for what it is. The Longview uprising is self-determination personified. It’s American, it’s patriotic, it’s grassroots, and its antecedents can be traced back to the Boston Tea Party. The real Boston Tea Party. Indeed, Longview is what the so-called Tea Party movement wishes it were.

Please read the full article at:

http://www.counterpunch.org/2011/09/09/organized-labor%e2%80%99s-great-day-at-longview/

[Odin2005]

36. SOLIDARITY WITH LABOR!!!