US DOCK LEADER DETAINED

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: september 2011 :: RMTnews 27 rmt drive International Longshoremen and Warehouse Union (ILWU) president Bob McEllrath has been detained by police as dockers massed on railway tracks to stop a shipment of grain to a non-ILWU terminal in Vancouver, Washington state. The confrontation between West Coast longshore workers and an anti-union exporter exploded as pickets massed on rail tracks by the hundreds to block grain shipments. Police used clubs and pepper spray on protesters in Longview, Washington, as they made 19 arrests. Ports in Washington were shut down completely as hundreds of longshore workers rushed to Longview, in the state’s southwestern corner. EGT Development, a consortium of three companies, wants to operate its new $200 million grain terminal in Longview using non-ILWU labour, despite a contract with the port requiring it to do so. When the ILWU protested, the company signed up with an Operating Engineers local. Every other major grain terminal on the West Coast is operated by ILWU labour, and the union asserts that EGT’s goal is to go non-union altogether, ending generations of good jobs. 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 recently a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order at the request of the National Labour Relations Board, which claimed that ILWU pickets had harassed EGT workers. Once the restraining order was in place, the BNSF railway decided to try once more to ship grain. Justin Hirsch, a Seattle longshore worker, said that grain terminals are major customers for the rail companies, who might move 500 trains a year through a terminal. ITF president Paddy Crumlin said that EGT were playing with fire. “They need to take a big step back and think about what they are 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,” he said. US DOCK LEADER DETAINED