The International Longshore and Warehouse Union is preparing for a protest this month when the first ship is expected to call at the EGT grain terminal in Longview, Wash.
The union said its members should get jobs at the new EGT terminal and are upset the operator has switched work to a subcontractor that has signed a contract with a rival union, the Operating Engineers.
“We believe that at some point this month a vessel will call at the EGT facility in Longview, Washington. We have been told that this vessel will be escorted by armed United States Coast Guard, including the use of small vessels and helicopters, from the mouth of the Columbia River to the EGT facility and that the facility itself will be protected by a full complement of local law enforcement from multiple jurisdictions,” ILWU President Robert McEllrath told members in a letter cautioning them not to take actions that may result in legal reprisals against the union.
“Locals need to be aware of the narrow path that we must cut through a federal labor law (the Taft-Hartley Act) that criminalizes worker solidarity, outlaws labor’s most effective tools, and protects commerce while severely restricting unions. Because Local 21’s labor dispute is with EGT, federal labor law entitles the local to conduct picketing and other collective actions directed at EGT.
“Further, while the NLRB (National Labor Relations Board), which administers Taft-Hartley, sought and received an injunction in federal court on behalf of EGT against the ILWU and its members, the federal court denied the NLRB’s motion to ban picketing at the EGT facility in Longview, preserving our First Amendment rights to peacefully picket the company.”
McEllrath added the “NLRB is currently seeking a second injunction, this time on behalf of PMA, on the theory that any disruption of work by the ILWU on the West Coast docks at the same time that the union is protesting EGT constitutes a violation of Taft-Hartley. However, we have no dispute with PMA or its member companies.
“Thus, any showing of support for Local 21 at the time that a vessel calls at the EGT facility must be measured to ensure that the West Coast ports have sufficient manpower so as not to impact cargo movement for PMA member companies. A call for a protest of EGT is not a call for a shutdown of West Coast ports and must not result in one,” McEllrath said.
The terminal is owned and operated by EGT, a consortium of companies that includes St. Louis-based Bunge North America, Japan-based Itochu Corp. and Korean shipper Pan Ocean STX. — Chris Dupin
ILWU plans to walk ‘narrow path’ in EGT protest
