Union Thugery

[Bronco]

From Here: http://www.komonews.com/news/local/129457903.html

 

TACOMA, Wash. (AP) - 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 said he now wants to hold a hearing to determine whether the union should be held in civil contempt.

 

"The regard for the law is absent here," the judge said. "Somebody is going to be hurt seriously."

 

Six guards were trapped for a couple of hours after at least 500 Longshoremen broke down gates about 4:30 a.m. and smashed windows in the guard shack, Longview Police Chief Jim Duscha said. He initially referred to the guards as "hostages," but later retracted that after the guards clarified no one had threatened them.

 

"The guards absolutely could not get out," Duscha said. "They feared for their lives because of the size of the crowd and the hostility of the crowd."

 

No one was hurt, and nobody has been arrested - although Duscha said that could change if police are able to use surveillance video or other means to identify the protesters.

 

Most of the protesters returned to their union hall after cutting brake lines and spilling grain from a car at the EGT terminal, Duscha said. They also pushed a private security vehicle into a ditch.

 

The union believes it has the right to work at the facility, but the company has hired a contractor that's staffing a workforce of laborers from another union, the Portland-based Operating Engineers Local 701. Representatives of the engineers union did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

 

In Seattle, Tacoma, Everett and Anacortes, hundreds of Longshore workers failed to show up or walked off the job Thursday in apparent solidarity with the Longview activists, halting work at those ports. Union leaders said they had not called for any such actions.

 

"It appears the members have taken action on their own," said ILWU spokesman Craig Merrilees from union headquarters in San Francisco.

 

He said some workers might have been motivated by a photograph of ILWU President Bob McElrath in police custody in Longview. Police arrested 19 protesters as they blocked railroad tracks on Wednesday night, allowing the train to finally arrive at the terminal.

 

The protesters in Longview have portrayed themselves as being on the front line in the struggle for jobs and benefits among American workers in an economic downturn. But while union strife has flared up around the country - most notably in Wisconsin - the aggressive tactics seen in Longview have been a rarity in recent labor disputes.

 

Labor activists insist that after receiving tax breaks and promising to create well-paying jobs at the new $200 million terminal, EGT initially tried to staff the terminal with nonunion workers. Following a series of protests by the Longshore workers this year, the company announced it would hire a contractor staffed by workers from a different union.

 

"Today, the ILWU took its criminal activity against EGT to an appalling level, including engaging in assault and significant property destruction," the company's chief executive, Larry Clarke, said in a written statement. "This type of violent attack at the export terminal has been condemned by a federal court, and we fully support prosecution of this criminal behavior to the fullest extent under the law."

 

Police from several agencies in southwest Washington, the Washington State Patrol and Burlington Northern Santa Fe responded to the violence to secure the scene that followed a demonstration Wednesday.

 

One sergeant was threatened with baseball bats and retreated, Duscha said. "One officer with hundreds of Longshoremen? He used the better part of discretion."

 

---

 

Associated Press writers Donna Gordon Blankinship, Doug Esser and Gene Johnson in Seattle contributed to this report.

 

[olyclimber]

There was an awesome picture of a sheriff "choken a bitch" in the paper. Gotta find it.

[olyclimber]

 

 

[billcoe]

The wobblies are back! Can the Pinkertons and the railroad dicks be far behind?!

 

 

[Buckaroo]

Screw the working class

 

they don't need any representation

 

they should just shut up and take whatever the upper 1/1000 of 1 percent oligarchy wants to give them

 

after all the greatest economic disparity in the history of the world is what we have and what we need to continue.

[pu]

I suppose that's the point of having a union. The same point could not have possibly been made if just one or two guys walked onto the property and pulled the same stuff.

 

[Bronco]

I suppose that's the point of having a union. The same point could not have possibly been made if just one or two guys walked onto the property and pulled the same stuff.

 

I always thought the point of the unions was to provide collective bargining and level the playing field in negotiations. Vandalism and indimidation sucks when you're the victim of these goons. Interesting to me none of them were reportedly arrested. What's up with that?

[kevbone]

I think Congressmen (and Women) should wear uniforms like NASCAR drivers so we could identify their sponsors!!

[KaskadskyjKozak]

after all the greatest economic disparity in the history of the world is what we have and what we need to continue.

 

Really? So the disparity between Roman emperors and plebs circa 50 AD was less than the disparity between an American CEO and working class person today?

 

[billcoe]

Interesting to me none of them were reportedly arrested. What's up with that?

 

That is called "media sensationalizing" wherein they take liberties and graphically blow up and push the story so they can sell more advertizements. I believe it's more the norm and not that rare. If you can find someone who was actually there at an event like this, it is rare that they concur that a news story is factually correct. Add to that the fact that none of the longshoremen will ever be ad revenue while whomever owns the grain elevator might have 4 more company's and be spending shitloads of $ with this very newspaper right now. The papers and media rarely disclose that kind of thing.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensationalism

[kevbone]

 

That is called "media sensationalizing"

 

Yep....just like the "war on terror".

[Buckshot]

As a former member of three different unions (UFCW, Teamsters, Teachers) I can say that the intimidation and threats they use against their employers are nothing compared to what they use against their members. I don't need a union to tell me who to vote for.

Unions were great in the 1930s. I am glad that unions are fading into irrelevancy as right to work laws march ahead.

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAGoBjrCnqc

 

[Bronco]

Interesting to me none of them were reportedly arrested. What's up with that?

 

That is called "media sensationalizing" wherein they take liberties and graphically blow up and push the story so they can sell more advertizements. I believe it's more the norm and not that rare. If you can find someone who was actually there at an event like this, it is rare that they concur that a news story is factually correct. Add to that the fact that none of the longshoremen will ever be ad revenue while whomever owns the grain elevator might have 4 more company's and be spending shitloads of $ with this very newspaper right now. The papers and media rarely disclose that kind of thing.

 

Are you suggesting there were arrests that were intentionally not reported by the media? I believe reporting of arrests would create additional "sensationalism". Why would they pass up that opportunity?

 

I think this is a case of out of work guys being frusterated at not getting a job they were counting on. Times are tough but this is not an appropriate or acceptable way to react. Hopefully some of them take responsiblity for their actions.

[ZimZam]

His spirit lives on.

[rob]

Sorry, but I have no sympathy for huge corporations. Burn the shit down.

[ivan]

His spirit lives on.

nice - gotta like his will, written shortly b4 his death by firing squad:

 

My will is easy to decide,

For there is nothing to divide.

My kin don't need to fuss and moan,

"Moss does not cling to a rolling stone."

 

My body? Oh, if I could choose

I would to ashes it reduce,

And let the merry breezes blow,

My dust to where some flowers grow.

 

Perhaps some fading flower then

Would come to life and bloom again.

This is my Last and final Will.

Good Luck to All of you,

Joe Hill

 

 

[ZimZam]

Don't mourn. Organize.

[billcoe]

Are you suggesting there were arrests that were intentionally not reported by the media? I believe reporting of arrests would create additional "sensationalism". Why would they pass up that opportunity?

 

Not in the least, the reverse is what I was thinking. The media took a story and blew it up and sensationalized it. There are no arrests, most likely, cause people were not doing what the story suggests. Not to say that some idiot didn't cut the brake lines on a RRcar, etc etc. It might have happened, but for myself I wouldn't believe this kind of tripe till I heard it from someone who was there or there was a trial. The media wants to spin it so they can make money. That's all I was thinking.

 

It actually might have happened just like they say in the news, but from what I personally have observed with the media, probably not.

[RuMR]

I think Congressmen (and Women) should wear uniforms like NASCAR drivers so we could identify their sponsors!!

[prole]

I suppose that's the point of having a union. The same point could not have possibly been made if just one or two guys walked onto the property and pulled the same stuff.

 

I always thought the point of the unions was to provide collective bargining and level the playing field in negotiations. Vandalism and indimidation sucks when you're the victim of these goons. Interesting to me none of them were reportedly arrested. What's up with that?

 

In the larger picture, if it weren't for workers just like these putting their asses on the line just like this to maintain the right to bargain collectively and level the playing field in negotiations back in the day, you wouldn't have a pot to piss in. Unless you're a heiress or something...

[Bronco]

... or someone with discipline and good work ethic. As a small business owner I can tell you we don't hire contractors who are organized. We simply won't do business with them beause of this sense of entitlement, irrational and irresponsible behavior and inflated labor rates.

[prole]

... or someone with discipline and good work ethic.

 

Another "small business owner" with a God-complex. Great.

[prole]

Talk about an inflated sense of entitlement. Guh.

[prole]

Do us a favor. Go Galt.

[ivan]

... or someone with discipline and good work ethic.

you must not have read "the jungle" plenty of folks out there who have been out of work for a long time now who have a good attitude and skills.