Don't Mess With the Longshoremen

Politics have taken a distinct 1930s flavor in the last few years. An economic crash, persistent unemployment, politicians debating social security, thousands of workers in Wisconsin demonstrating for their right to organize, and labor unions locked in a high-stakes fight with a cabal of conservative interests. Faced with the most hostile environment for labor in decades, perhaps it's not surprising that Longview's International Longshore and Warehouse Unions Local 21 revisited a tactic that would have been more familiar to their grandfathers. Last week, over 100 union longshoremen were arrested after invading the EGT terminal at the Port of Longview to prevent a train from making a scheduled grain delivery.

The root of the disagreement is the new grain terminal, which operators EGT claim is exempt from the contract the longshoremen have with the port, which guarantees the Port of Longview will be a union facility because it is leasing the space, and so it has no such contract with the longshoremen. Unsurprisingly, the ILWU 21 do not agree. About 50 jobs are at stake, but just as important, not a single grain terminal on the West Coast operates today without union labor, and if a precedent is set that operators can successfully circumvent union contracts, longshoremen up and down the Pacific seaboard could be at risk. The ILWU had been negotiating with EGT, but talks broke down months ago.

The standoff lasted between around 11 p.m. and 3 a.m., and involved around 600 protestors, both longshoremen and sympathizers. The activists seem to have won a victory, as the grain was not delivered, and Burlington Northern Santa Fe have suspended service to the terminal indefinitely. A lawsuit between EGT and the Port of Longview over the issue is ongoing.

The train was diverted to the Port of Vancouver, where it was loaded without incident by union longshoremen.