ILWU Port of Longview Update

EGT has recognized Local 21 of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) as the sole bargaining representative for workers at its new grain terminal in Longview, Washington, Working In These Times reported this week, bringing to an end EGT’s attempt to open the first non-union port terminal on the West Coast.

Workers at the terminal signed union authorization cards on January 30 and 31 and an arbitrator has verified their authenticity. EGT and the ILWU agreed to negotiate a contract to finalize the deal.

The agreement came after mediation by Washington Governor Christine Gregoire on the eve of a showdown between union members and their supporters who planned to blockade a Coast Guard protected grain ship due to arrive at the EGT terminal this month. Other actions over the past year have included blockades of trains delivering grain to the terminal, as well as pickets and demonstrations that were met with extreme police violence and over 100 arrests.

In related news, the Left Labor Reporter wrote earlier this week that a jury has found four women not guilty of blocking a train at the EGT grain terminal last September, bringing to six the total number of acquittals of ILWU members and their supporters (or 100% of the cases brought to trial so far).

The union-recognition victory for Local 21 can be attributed to their militancy and perseverance in the face of police violence and employer intransigence, as well as the solidarity of other locals. ILWU members at the Port of Tacoma and Vancouver, for example, went out on wildcat strikes, while workers shut down ports up and down the West Coast at various times in solidarity with Local 21. OWS activists also attempted to shut down West Coast ports in support of the Local 21, succeeding in halting activity at several Oakland terminals.

Sadly, but not surprisingly, ILWU International President Robert McEllrath used the settlement as an opportunity to portray EGT as a good and honest corporate friend, saying “we are committed to developing a long-term relationship with EGT."

While this sentiment was no doubt intended to help heal some of divisiveness and anger in the community of Longview and to encourage rank and file support for upcoming contract negotiations, it should be remembered by all workers that the boss is never a true friend and any long-term relationship is necessarily one of subservience.

Employees’ interests are irrelevant unless they coincide with increased profits for shareholders and executives. Any compromises EGT makes during contract negotiations will be made purely on a cost-benefit basis. For example, it was cheaper to hire Local 21 members and to recognize their union than to face continued work stoppages, blockades and legal battles.

What Local 21 members will get out of the deal is job security at the Port of Longview. In exchange, EGT will likely demand reduced wages, benefits and working conditions. Union members still face multiple criminal charges and the ILWU still faces $300,000 in fines for disobeying an injunction against illegal picketing issued by a federal judge. If EGT really was a friend, they would drop all pending charges and/or ask the courts to do so.

Mayor Calls OWS Terrorists, Congress Calls On Military To Arrest U.S. Citizens

Terrorist or CEO? (Image by puuikibeach)

Oakland Mayor Jean Quan called OWS protestors economic terrorists for shutting down the Oakland Port on Monday. Such bombast would be laughable if we weren’t currently slaughtering thousands of people throughout the world, assassinating, torturing and incarcerating suspects in secret prisons without trial, all in the name of fighting terrorism.

Her comment is even more threatening in light of recent Congressional legislation that would allow the U.S. military to arrest and indefinitely detain American citizens anywhere in the world without charge or trial, including on U.S. soil (in violation of the Posse Comitatus Act), for suspicion of being a terrorist. The new rules are part of a new $662 billion military spending bill that has been criticized by several Obama administration officials, human rights groups and even some Tea Party members, according to Democracy Now.

While it is unlikely that any OWS protestors will be sent to Gitmo, the rhetoric is clearly intended to discredit them and turn public sentiment against their cause. It also belies a commonly believed misconception that “Excessive” profits by the wealthy are bad, but the wealthy themselves are good because they create jobs and keep the economy running. Therefore, anything that hinders their ability to run their businesses and make a profit is seen as an attack on the 99% and their ability to go to work and earn an income.

According to this line of reasoning, workers who go on strike are terrorists. Consumers who boycott a business or product are terrorists. Shoplifters are terrorists. Little old ladies who refuse to engage with phone solicitors are terrorists. But employers who maintain unsafe working conditions, illegally dump toxic waste, pollute the air and water, pay starvation wages, or implement dangerous speedups are simply doing business.

Even if we ignore the absurdity of the “terrorist” epithet, the theoretical basis for it is still absurd. How can it be bad for a person to make an “obscene” profit, but okay for him to make a “not-so-obscene” profit when all profits arise by paying workers far less than the value of their labor? Aren’t the workers being exploited in either case? And how can one distinguish between obscene and not-so-obscene profits when all profits contribute to inequities in wealth and social power.

There are other absurdities, too. Workers and activists who try to halt profits for a day are terrorists, but Congressional leaders who want to slash unemployment benefits and require recipients to have a GED or college degree and submit to drug testing are simply encouraging lazy shirkers to stop horsing around and get jobs quicker (never mind that there aren’t anywhere near enough jobs available). Congressional leaders should not be seen as engaging in any sort of economic violence, blackmail or threats when they tie tax cut extensions for the middle class to the fast tracking of a Tar Sands pipeline running from Alberta to the Gulf of Mexico and deregulation of mercury emissions from coal power plants, because they are only trying to preserve jobs and we should certainly appreciate that, even if the riders on the bill will kill us through pollution.

Thankfully I have a job as a teacher and therefore protection against the military’s witch hunt for terrorists, except I’m also a member of the NEA, which was declared a terrorist organization back in 2004, by George Bush’s Education Secretary Rod Paige.