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.