“Sue Baur has a personal grudge against the ILWU,” said Leal Sundet, ILWU Coast Committeeman. “Ms. Baur was personally involved in urging the Port of Longview to crack down on lawful picketing last summer, and has made grossly improper comments threatening physical harm to those who dared to criticize Sheriff Mark Nelson.”

 In documents obtained by the ILWU through a Public Records Act request, Cowlitz County recently disclosed that when Sheriff Nelson informed Baur about a Facebook group formed in support of ILWU Local 21’s recall campaign against him, Baur responded: “Will you let me borrow a gun please?”

 Sundet said, “This is clearly an inappropriate response towards people who were exercising their democratic rights. Ms. Baur’s hypocrisy is clear. Last summer, Ms. Baur pursued felony harassment charges against an ILWU member for allegedly making a threat on a picket line. Yet, by her own standards, Ms. Baur should be charging herself for the same crime.”

 Baur’s office has also filed dozens of meritless criminal charges against ILWU members and supporters, forced them to go through months of court proceedings, and then dismissed these charges for lack of evidence, often dismissing the cases on the eve of trial. Just this week, Baur has moved to dismiss six charges stemming from a September 7th demonstration, charges that never should have been filed in the first place.

 “The waste to the public is apparent, while her reckless ‘charge first and investigate later’ style has caused all sorts of personal stress and anxiety to ILWU members and supporters who did nothing more than to exercise their First Amendment rights,” said Sundet.

 In an effort to promote reconciliation and help the Longview/Kelso communities put this dispute behind them, the ILWU has repeatedly tried to come to a fair settlement with Baur on all pending ILWU related cases, even suggesting mediation. Baur, though, has ignored these requests.

           “After a long divisive conflict, we’ve reached a historic agreement with EGT. We are now just beginning the difficult process of healing,” said Dan Coffman, President of Local 21. “This is an opportunity for Sue Baur to demonstrate leadership and help put this bitter dispute behind us. Enough is enough. We call on Sue Baur to stop escalating this conflict and instead join the rest of Cowlitz County in trying to help this community heal.”

“No Race-Baiting, Red-Baiting or Queer-Baiting!”
Allan Bérubé’s History of the Marine Cooks and Steward Union

When:  Friday, February 24, 2012 ~ Light refreshments at 6:30 p.m., program begins at 7:00 p.m.

Where: ILWU, Local 34 hall, 4 Berry Street, San Francisco (at 2^nd and King Streets on the Embarcadero next to Giant’s Stadium).  Don’t use Mapquest or Google Maps – they show the wrong location!

Free and Open to the Public

Download attached flyer for map and directions (PDF)

“This is a positive development for EGT, the ILWU and the Longview community,” said EGT CEO Larry Clarke.  “The five year agreement is unique on the West Coast and provides us the dedicated workforce and the flexibility to run this 21^st century facility efficiently and safely.  We appreciate the efforts of Governor Gregoire and ILWU President McEllrath, who helped make this possible so our operations can expand economic benefits to the local community.”

ILWU President Robert McEllrath said, “The men and women of the ILWU have crafted hundreds of collective bargaining agreements over the past several decades that have made many companies profitable while also providing family wage jobs for communities like Longview. This agreement between EGT and the ILWU was crafted with the goals of safety, productivity, good jobs for the community, and stability for the grain industry in mind.”

“Ever since the ILWU started loading this first ship, a lot of positive conversations have started taking place around town,” said Dan Coffman, ILWU Local 21 president. “People are happy to see we can all move forward now and do what we’re here to do, which is work hard and support our community.”

Background on EGT’s Longview Facility:

EGT, LLC is a joint venture between Bunge North America, the North American operating arm of Bunge Limited (NYSE: BG); ITOCHU International Inc., a U.s. subsidiary of Japanese trading company ITOCHU Corp. (TYO: 8001); and South Korea-based STX Pan Ocean (KRX: 028670. KS, SGX: GZ9),  one of the top major bulk carriers in the world.

Background on the ILWU

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union represents 50,000 men and women on the docks, in grain terminals, in warehouses and in other industries in Washington, Oregon, California, Hawaii, Alaska, and British Columbia. Formed on the U.s. West Coast in the 1930’s, the union has negotiated hundreds of contracts that promote safe and sustainable working conditions while ensuring the productive operation of facilities handling grain, containers, breakbulk, autos, logs and virtually every other cargo at more than 40 American and Canadian ports.  ILWU Local 21 has been handling grain at the Ports of Longview and Kalama since 1927.

For more information please visit:  www.egtgrain.com or www.ilwu.org

“EGT is open for business,” said EGT CEO Larry Clarke.  “By increasing grain exports from Longview, we not only help support local workers and residents, but we create opportunities for thousands of American farmers from the Pacific Northwest and beyond.  This development also helps strengthen the partnership between EGT and local workers from the ILWU and we look forward to continuing to work together. ”

“The men and women of the ILWU are pleased to bring their many decades of grain handling experience to work at EGT,” said ILWU International President Robert McEllrath. “The partnership between the ILWU and EGT will ensure many years of safe, productive operation at the facility, and stability in the Pacific Northwest grain export industry.”

Background on the Ship:

• The ship is a time charter registered under EGT partner company STX Pan Ocean
• Cargo: Once loaded, the ship will hold just over 57,000 metric tonnes of soft white wheat grown in Washington State
• Destination: Korea

Background on EGT’s Longview Facility:
EGT operates the first export grain terminal built in the United States in over twenty-five years, a $200 million state-of-the-art facility redefining the boundaries of Pacific Northwest grain export with its higher speed, greater flexibility, and superior efficiency. The terminal is among the leading facilities operating in the region, a status secured by its groundbreaking design that enables it to handle wheat, corn, soybeans, soybean meal, and DDGs through both barge and rail. Given these capabilities, EGT’s entry to the Pacific Northwest strengthens U.s. trade flows and sets a new standard for grain export.
EGT, LLC is a joint venture between Bunge North America, the North American operating arm of Bunge Limited (NYSE: BG); ITOCHU International Inc., a U.S. subsidiary of Japanese trading company ITOCHU Corp. (TYO: 8001); and South Korea-based STX Pan Ocean (KRX: 028670. KS, SGX: GZ9),  one of the top major bulk carriers in the world.

Background on the ILWU

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union represents 50,000 men and women on the docks, in grain terminals, in warehouses and in other industries in Washington, Oregon, California, Hawaii, Alaska, and British Columbia. Formed on the U.S. West Coast in the 1930’s, the union has negotiated hundreds of contracts that promote safe and sustainable working conditions while ensuring the productive operation of facilities handling grain, containers, breakbulk, autos, logs and virtually every other cargo in more than 40 American and Canadian ports.  ILWU Local 21 has been handling grain at the Ports of Longview and Kalama since 1927.

On Wednesday, Cowlitz County jurors found four women “not guilty” of blocking a train, in a case arising from a demonstration on Sept. 21st. These four jury acquittals bring the total to six, a 100% vindication rate for the longshore workers and their supporters from three separate juries. In addition to the acquittals, dozens of charges have been dropped for lack of cause or evidence.

Leal Sundet, ILWU Coast Committeeman at the union’s international headquarters in San Francisco and former ILWU Local 8 president in Portland, stated, “It’s time for the prosecuting attorney to show leadership and drop the remaining charges against longshore workers and their supporters for exercising their constitutional rights during their free speech demonstrations last summer.”

Longview’s ILWU Local 21 President Dan Coffman said, “Three juries have looked at the evidence, and all three juries have found ILWU workers and supporters not guilty of what the prosecutors have accused them of doing.  We hope that we can move forward and not waste any more taxpayer funds on prosecutions of people who were willing to put their bodies on the line for good jobs and our community. The state should now promote reconciliation and help the community put this dispute behind it.”

Jack Peterson, attorney for the four women acquitted yesterday, stated, “The jury’s verdict on Wednesday demonstrates in a tangible way why the United States is the best country in the world to live in.  Ultimately, the community gets to judge its fellow citizens.   The clear message the jury sent to the Cowlitz County Prosecutor’s Office is that, when citizens assert their constitutional rights, it does not mean they are criminals.”

Photo by Paul/Portland Occupier

LONGVIEW, WA (February 2, 2012) – On Wednesday, EGT voluntarily recognized International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 21 as the bargaining representative for its grain handler employees on the vessel and in its facility in the Port of Longview.

LONGVIEW, WA (January 27, 2012) — Today, the Port of Longview approved a settlement agreement with EGT and the ILWU settling unresolved legal issues between the parties. The Port also approved an amendment to its lease with EGT agreeing that EGT is no longer bound by the Port’s Working Agreement with ILWU Local 21. In exchange, EGT agreed that the ILWU/PMA Joint Dispatch Hall (Local 21) shall provide the labor for EGT’s facility at the Port of Longview, and agreed to a union card check procedure. If a majority of workers indicate their preference to be represented by ILWU Local 21 at the EGT facility, EGT and ILWU Local 21 expect to negotiate the details of a labor agreement for all landside and shipside operations.

ILWU Coast Committeeman Leal Sundet said, “In a unanimous vote on Tuesday, January 24, 2012, ILWU Local 21’s rank and file approved the legal settlement agreement and the steps forward. Today’s developments are a positive signal that the relationship between ILWU Local 21 and EGT is moving in the right direction.”

Leal Sundet, ILWU Coast Committeeman, said: “The ILWU welcomes the dismissal of these charges against Mr. Norton. The prosecutors now see that there was no basis to file these charges to begin with, because the protestors were on public
property, exercising their First Amendment rights. It is sad that Mr. Norton had to go through the stress and strain of a criminal prosecution.”

Norton did, however, enter a plea of guilty to the crime of resisting arrest, a charge arising when he was arrested on September 13th for the trespassing case. There are limited options for fighting this type of charge, which can be based simply on someone “tensing up” while being arrested. In this case, Norton admitted that he did not get out of his car immediately when told to by a police officer, which led to the officer pulling him out of the car and throwing him to the ground. “Nevertheless,” Sundet continued, “the prosecutor’s dismissal of the very charges that led to Mr. Norton’s arrest in the first place is a concession that there really was no crime committed on September 7th at all.”

Norton received a suspended sentence and is required to do a small amount of community service as a condition of his sentence. “Mr. Norton already is serving the community by fighting EGT’s attempt to destroy good wages for the families of Cowlitz County, so it is no burden at all for Mr. Norton to complete the community service hours,” Sundet said.

Seven other workers have pled guilty to minor charges in the past few days to put an end to months of unnecessary stress on their families caused by aggressive law enforcement. Sundet said, “The prosecuting attorney has gotten desperate because she has no real evidence for which to prosecute these demonstrators, and she resorted to threats of additional charges in order to wrestle guilty pleas from innocent workers.”

To date, the only two cases against workers who were arrested for demonstrating against EGT that have gone to trial have resulted in not-guilty verdicts from their respective juries.

In our January issue, the Dispatcher reported on 80 Portland-area warehouse workers who were fighting for safe jobs, healthy
families and retirement security. At that time, they had been bargaining for a fair collective bargaining agreement with Georgia Pacific for over a year.

Georgia Pacific is one of the largest multi-national paper corporations in the world and is owned by the antiunion, billionaire Koch
brothers. Workers at two of the warehouses, Rivergate and Front Avenue, reached agreement with Georgia Pacific in 2011. Workers at GP’s warehouse in Kelley Point fought longer and settled their agreement after a “lightning strike” over
management’s refusal to bargain in good faith with union members.

Community allies: United Students Against Sweatshops

In early February, ILWU International Vice President Ray Familathe travelled to Columbus, Ohio to participate in the annual conference of the United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS). The campus-based organization has won campaigns against powerful companies like Nike and Russell Athletic that were accused of mistreating workers. The group provided critical support
for the struggle by Rite Aid warehouse workers in Lancaster, CA who won their fight for an ILWU contract in May, 2011. USAS has groups on 150 campuses in the US and Canada.

“I went to congratulate these student activists for all their previous efforts to help workers, and thank them for their solidarity
with Rite Aid workers,” said International Vice President Ray Familathe who spent two days meeting with the students.

Defending collective bargaining rights

In our March issue, we reported on a solidarity trip of ILWU members from Locals 13, 63, 26 and 94 who were part of a delegation of 161 workers from Southern California that traveled to Madison, Wisconsin to stand in solidarity with tens of thousands of students, parents, teachers, nurses and other community members fighting to protect union rights for workers.

Wisconsin Governor, Scott Walker—and the state legislature dominated by anti-worker politicians – pushed and later passed legislation stripping public employees of their right to bargain for anything other than wages.

“ILWU members need to be in this for the long haul,” said Local 94’s Franchesta Grove, who made the trek to Wisconsin. “Each ILWU member needs to understand that it is very important to support our brothers and sisters in Wisconsin. It’s easier for us to go to the battle than wait for the battle to come to us. When we’re asked to step up to help these workers, we need to do so
graciously. Those men and women are standing out in the snow fighting for our rights.”

When the anti-union legislation was eventually passed, the public outrage led to a massive campaign that successfully recalled two of six anti-union Republican state Senators who were targeted because of their anti-worker views. The recall of two politicians was impressive, but it fell short of the 3 needed to break the anti-union majority in the State Senate.

But the recall effort did send a clear message to anti-union politicians throughout the country that attacking workers could be politically risky. A campaign to recall Gov. Walker is currently underway.

Tacoma Longshore turns 125

Our April issue covered the 125^th  anniversary of the Tacoma Longshore Local. On March 22, Local 23 active members, pensioners, the ILWU International officers and Coast Committeeman Leal Sundet, with Tacoma community members, and
representatives from ILWU locals along the coast gathered in the Old Tacoma Cemetery at the burial site for 23 of the original 47 workers who formed the Stevedores, Longshore and Riggers Union of Puget Sound. The gravesite commemoration was followed by a lunch featuring speakers and entertainment.

The union was formed on March 22, 1886 after a unanimous vote by the men working the lumber ship, Ivy. They struck for five days before winning their demands for union recognition, wage increases, and the right for a job dispatcher to be elected by union members. “Seven of the 23 founding members buried in Old Tacoma Cemetery were killed on the job,” said honorary
Local 23 member and historian Dr. Ron Magden, who quoted from an article that he wrote for the 125th anniversary celebration.

Rite Aid workers win a first contract

On May Day, the five-year organizing struggle by Rite Aid workers in Lancaster, CA ended in a major victory for ILWU members when a fair contract agreement was finally reached with the company. On May 12th, a strong majority of employees ratified their three-year agreement that provided guaranteed raises, fair health insurance rates, protection against subcontracting, and powerful new tools to control the pace of work and promote safer conditions inside their million-square-foot warehouse.

“Everyone on the team deserves credit for helping win this fight,” said ILWU International President Bob McEllrath, “beginning with the rank and file warehouse workers, our coalition allies around the country, and especially the ILWU members up and down the coast who pitched in to help us win.”

 ILWU members turn up the heat on EGT

On June 3rd, 1200 ILWU members staged a powerful show of solidarity when members from locals up and down the West Coast rallied in Portland, OR to support efforts by ILWU Local 21 to win their fight against EGT, a wealthy multinational conglomerate seeking to undermine ILWU jurisdiction in Longview, WA.

Besides hundreds of ILWU members from locals 4, 5, 8, 10, 13, 19, 21, 23, 27, 40, 50, 52, 53, 54, 92, and 98, dozens of ILWU Pensioners and Auxiliary members attended. Members of the ILWU’s Marine Division – the Inlandboatmen’s Union –were also on hand. A wide range of other unions helped to swell the ranks, including members of the United Food and Commercial Workers
Union, Laborers, Teamsters, Painters, Roofers, Letter Carriers, AFSCME, SEIU, Carpenters, Masters, Mates & Pilots Union, and theater workers from IATSE. The International Transport Workers Federation sent representatives and the Oregon state AFL-CIO and Northwest Oregon Labor Council encouraged affiliated union members to attend.

Community groups including Jobs with Justice, the Working Families Party, and Cowlitz County Deserves Better also came to lend their support. Messages of encouragement and support came from as far away as Australia and New Zealand.

Seattle Longshore Turns 125

The July/Aug issue reported on Local 19’s 125th anniversary celebration of the Seattle Longshore Union that took place. Over 200 people turned out to the event on June 14th. Coast Committeeman Leal Sundet attended the event along with representatives from ILWU locals throughout the Pacific Northwest.

Like the Tacoma celebration, one of the highlights of the evening was a historical presentation on the Seattle longshore local by Dr. Ron Magden. The talk was illustrated by a slideshow of historical photos that chronicled the union’s defining moments and figures across its 125- year history. the remembrance of “Bloody Thursday” and the martyrs of the 1934 West Coast Waterfront strike by ILWU members and their families up and down the West Coast. That struggle gave birth to the ILWU and radically improved wages and working conditions for dock workers.

Panama Canal Pilots affiliate with ILWU

Our September issue announced that the Panama Canal Pilots Union voted to affiliate with the ILWU. The vote took place on September 7, the same date that an agreement was signed 32 years ago between the governments of Panama and the United States to return control of the Canal Zone to Panama.

“This is an historic agreement that unites workers in different countries with a critical link in the global supply chain,” said
International President Bob McEllrath upon hearing the decision by Pilots to affiliate with the ILWU. “We want to welcome these union brothers to the ILWU family and look forward to helping  each other.”

Bayer pharmaceutical workers win contract

In the October Dispatcher, we reported that 420 Local 6 members at the Bayer HealthCare plant in Berkeley, California reached an agreement on a new contract. The contract was ratified by 70% of workers on October 12. The four-year contract includes better job security, annual raises of more than 3%, and a freeze on the workers currently pay. Bayer threatened job cuts Bayer had been seeking takeaways in this contract that included the outsourcing of janitorial jobs, boosting health care rates, arbitrary
scheduling changes, and more.

 ILWU protects workers and public from exploding containers

Our November issue discussed the steps the ILWU took to safeguard dockworkers and the public from thousands of potentially explosive refrigerated shipping containers that have been arriving from overseas ports.

The ILWU first learned about the hazard on October 20. Officials at the world’s largest carrier, Maersk, notified an industry group earlier in October – but only after three dockworkers in foreign ports had been killed by explosions involving refrigerated shipping containers, known as “reefers.”

Experts in the shipping industry have apparently known since early 2011 that counterfeit or substandard refrigerant was being used by vendors in Vietnam who provided low-cost maintenance and servicing of reefers.

The Coast Arbitrator eventually issued a decision with a definition for at-risk reefers: “A reefer container which, in 2011 in Vietnam, at Cat Lai or elsewhere in that country, had maintenance and repair work to the mechanism of the reefer unit that involves refrigerant fluids is an at-risk container If that maintenance and repair work did not involve that mechanism,
but to other unit mechanisms such as electrical systems or, for example, repairs to exterior dents which do not implicate the refrigeration mechanism of the reefer unit, the container is not at-risk.”

Companies are now providing the union with transit information for all reefers and are providing maintenance and repair records for any that transited Vietnam in 2011. As a result, at risk containers are now being handled according to safety protocols.

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