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

[Better Believe It]

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.