ILWU International President Robert McEllrath was detained by law enforcement.
Hundreds of port workers and community supporters volunteered to stand in front of a train carrying grain to an outlaw loading facility in Longview, Washington on September 7th. Workers took action to protest the refusal by the big grain company, EGT, to honor agreements with the local community to provide good jobs in Longview.
The controversial grain terminal is owned and operated by EGT – a consortium of companies that includes U.S-based Bunge North America, South Korea-based STX Pan Ocean and Japan-based Itochu Corporation. Bunge reported profits of $2.5 billion dollars last year and operates in 30 countries.
“Everyone came to the tracks on their own free will to stand up for justice and protect good jobs in this community,” said ILWU International President Bob McEllrath, who stood with the volunteers on September 7th. “It shouldn’t be a crime to fight for good jobs in America.”
The demonstration blocked the train for several hours. Police in riot gear charged the group of peaceful protesters which included
women and children, causing minor injuries to several adults. Several workers were hit with pepper spray, struck with batons and wrestled to the ground by police, but no serious injuries were reported. After volunteers stood their ground, police retreated and the train was backed-off.
President McEllrath was physically assaulted and briefly detained by Cowlitz County Sherriff’s deputies before being released without charges. After a tense stand-off between demonstrators and the police, McEllrath returned to the group of volunteers.
“We can get maced, tear-gassed and clubbed today, or we can wait for longshore support from all over the West Coast when the next train tries to enter the EGT terminal,” McEllrath explained.
Wildcat actions shut Washington Ports
After growing frustration over EGT’s continued disrespect for the Longview community, coupled with anger generated by the Sherriff’s man handling of President McEllrath, longshore workers in Tacoma, Seattle, Anacortes and Everett engaged in a wildcat job action. Workers left their jobs at the ports and travelled to Longview where hundreds reportedly entered the EGT facility, opened the doors on grain cars, then left. Police arrived at the scene but no arrests were made.
Initial press reports of the incident contained ridiculous and false assertions of hostage-taking that were irresponsibly spread by Longview Police Chief Jim Duscha, who later downplayed his initial claims.
“The false claim made by Longview Police Chief Jim Duscha, as reported by the Associated Press on Thursday, September 8, 2011, that ‘Six guards were held hostage for a couple of hours’ in Longview, was a lie,” said Coast Committeeman Leal Sundet. “Chief Duscha owes the community of Longview an apology for mischaracterizing that morning’s events by using inaccurate, inflammatory and unprofessional terminology.”
EGT’s broken promises
Like so many companies that promise to bring good jobs to communities, EGT took substantial tax breaks and other benefits – including land that was secured for the company by the Port of Longview. But immediately after signing a sweetheart lease agreement with the Port, EGT turned its back on Longview taxpayers and imported lowpaid, out-of-state workers to build the new terminal. With hundreds of skilled local workers in the building trades desperately searching for jobs, EGT passed them over and brought in workers from the outside, driving down area standard wages and adding insult to injury for local unemployed families.
Once the terminal was completed, EGT reneged on their lease agreement with the Port of Longview that required the company to staff the new terminal with members of ILWU Local 21. When Port officials asked EGT to honor their promise to employ ILWU members, the company responded by filing a lawsuit against the Port of Longview.
“Our community gave EGT generous subsidies to build their new facility here because they promised to provide good-paying ILWU jobs for the local community, but then they reneged on their promises and sued local taxpayers with a frivolous lawsuit that could cost our residents a fortune to defend,” explained President McEllrath who grew up in the nearby town on Vancouver.
EGT spends big on PR & union busting
While EGT is undercutting family wages and suing local taxpayers, they’re spending a fortune on a public relations and a union-busting
“security company.” The company is using an out-of-state PR firm to place propaganda ads on local radio stations and is buying full page newspaper ads to attack the union.
But EGT faces an uphill battle in the small town of Longview and surrounding communities where respect for the ILWU is rock solid. The proof isn’t hard to see with over 200 local businesses displaying signs in their windows that express support for Local 21 members in the dispute with EGT.
EGT’s phony negotiations
At first, EGT pretended to be interested in negotiating a contract with the ILWU. But after they declined to consider the same contract
signed by members of the Pacific Northwest Grain Handlers Association, EGT made it clear that they weren’t serious about negotiating, and the company eventually walkedout.
The ILWU has filed NLRB charges against EGT that are still being investigated by government officials. Meanwhile, the company’s NLRB charge against the union got express treatment at the NLRB, sending government officials scrambling to secure a federal court injunction against the ILWU.
“The laws in this country have always been stacked against workers, and the NLRB is no exception,” says Leal Sundet, who notes that the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 was designed to restrict effective picket lines and protect employers and their scabs by requiring the NLRB to seek fast and far-reaching court injunctions.
EGT ends negotiation, triggers escalation
When it was clear that EGT was failing to negotiate in good faith, a massive rally of 1,000 ILWU supporters from all over the West Coast was called at EGT’s headquarters in downtown Portland on June 3rd.
Actions escalated during the following month when over 100 dockworkers occupied the EGT facility on July 11 at a protest outside the EGT facility in Longview. About 100 ILWU members were arrested for trespassing, including Local 21 President Dan Coffman.
Three days later on July 14, 600 Columbia River dockworkers blocked a train that was delivering grain to the EGT terminal by standing on the railroad tracks. The 107-car train was rerouted to Vancouver following the standoff. Officials at Burlington Northern Santa Fe then suspended train traffic to the grain terminal for safety reasons until another delivery was attempted on September
7, when two blockages took place as the train moved toward the EGT Terminal.
The action by individual workers the following morning resulted in the loss of some grain and minor property damage, but no physical harm to any EGT employees, according to news reports.
Court victory for workers
On the afternoon of September 8th, a United States District Court Judge in Tacoma denied the NLRB’s motion to ban picketing at the EGT facility in the Port of Longview. The judge issued a narrow injunction that preserved the right of union members to peacefully picket — far short of what EGT and the NLRB wanted. The employer and government officials will seek contempt charges against the union when they return to court on September 15.
International outrage
The assault on President McEllrath received international condemnation from labor leaders across the globe. The International Transport Workers’ Federation issued a statement condemning the treatment of McEllrath within hours of the assault. The ITF warned the company that their continued intransigence will only escalate the dispute.
“EGT is playing with fire, and they know it,” said ITF President Paddy Crumlin. “They need to take a big step back and think about
what they’re trying to force through, then see sense and talk to the ILWU about how to resolve this issue before it escalates even further.
The 350,000 plus dockers in the ITF will be watching how the company treats their American colleagues and, if the company makes it
necessary, will be ready to take lawful solidarity action in support of the ILWU.”
A similar message of support was received from the International Dockers Council (IDC), which issued a passionate expression of solidarity and pledge to support the struggle in Longview. On the home front, support has come from the Washington State AFLCIO, the Oregon State AFL-CIO, and Oregon State Building Trades.
Longshore workers on the East Coast and Gulf states are also supporting the struggle in Longview. A statement issued by the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) said: “We join in solidarity with our Sisters and Brothers of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union in condemning the attack by police in riot gear on hundreds of ILWU member-protesters in Washington State and the detention of ILWU President Bob McEllrath.”
ILA President Harold Daggett said, “I stand with ILWU President McEllrath in proclaiming: ‘It shouldn’t be a crime to fight for good jobs in America’.” Daggett pledged the ILA’s full support in the struggle against EGT.