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-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Longshoremen storm Wash. state port, damage RR
2011-09-08
Hundreds of Longshoremen stormed the Port of Longview early Thursday, overpowered and held security guards, damaged railroad cars, and dumped grain that is the center of a labor dispute, said Longview Police Chief Jim Duscha.

Six guards were held hostage for a couple of hours after 500 or more Longshoremen broke down gates about 4:30 a.m. and smashed windows in the guard shack, he said.

No one was hurt, and nobody has been arrested. Most of the protesters returned to their union hall after cutting brake lines and spilling grain from car at the EGT terminal, Duscha said.
So kidnapping and holding hostages is no longer a crime?
The International Longshore and Warehouse Union believes it has the right to work at the facility, but the company has hired a contractor that's staffing a workforce of other union laborers.

Thursday's violence was first reported by Kelso radio station KLOG.

Police from several agencies in southwest Washington, the Washington State Patrol and Burlington Northern Santa Fe responded to the violence to secure the scene that followed a demonstration Wednesday.

"We're not surprised," Duscha said. "A lot of the protesters were telling us this in only the start."
This is why I hate most Unions. They strong arm their way just like the fucking Mafia (and Nazis). The owner needs to hire a security firm with automatic weapons and an shoot to kill order. Enough of this bullshit.
Posted by:DarthVader

#11  Additional info:
TACOMA, Wash. (AP) - A federal judge ordered union protesters to stop using illegal tactics Thursday as they battle for the right to work at a new grain terminal in Washington state.

U.S. District Judge Ronald Leighton issued a preliminary injunction to restrict union activity, saying there was no defense for the aggressive tactics used in recent days. Protesters twice blocked the pathway of a train carrying grain to the terminal at the Port of Longview on Wednesday, and early Thursday morning hundreds of them stormed the facility, overwhelmed guards, dumped grain and broke windows, police said.

The dispute halted work at four other Washington ports, including Seattle, on Thursday as hundreds of longshoremen refused to show up or walked off the job.

Leighton said he felt like a paper tiger because the International Longshore and Warehouse Union clearly ignored a temporary restraining order he issued last week with similar limits.
In Seattle, Tacoma, Everett and Anacortes, hundreds of Longshore workers failed to show up or walked off the job Thursday in apparent solidarity with the Longview activists, halting work at those ports. Union leaders said they had not called for any such actions.

"It appears the members have taken action on their own," said ILWU spokesman Craig Merrilees from union headquarters in San Francisco.

He said some workers might have been motivated by a photograph of ILWU President Bob McElrath in police custody in Longview on Wednesday.


Don't expect anything from Holder or the Justice Department - they are the ones giving the OK to the union to engage in terrorst acts.

Posted by: CrazyFool   2011-09-08 23:43  

#10  Animal/Earth Liberation Front does stuff like this and gets classified as a domestic terrorist organization. Maybe its time to look at the existing laws on the book for new uses.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2011-09-08 23:02  

#9  AP, we also need a citizenry that makes it abundantly clear they will not tolerate this sort of action.
Posted by: lotp   2011-09-08 19:14  

#8  They are on video cameras. Like England each will be marched into court. We have seven years to prosecute (I believe). When we get the legal people on them if we elect the the right people. This will only escalate till then. They have opened a can of worms. They will have no control over it. The Democrats own home areas will be the most destroyed. They loose the hounds and they will be bitten.
Posted by: Dale   2011-09-08 19:12  

#7  This act of hooliganism is a direct result of O's condoning the actions of the unions in their disputes with management. Witness Wisconsin, Hoffa's speech, and now this mob action in the Port of Longview. This is the Chicago Way™ applied nationwide. The Serpent shows his fangs and nobody reigns him in. We need a good, critical, and honest free press in the worst way to expose all this.
Posted by: Alaska Paul   2011-09-08 18:05  

#6  Any union member resorting to violence as the direct result of a labor dispute should be automatically labelled a criminal, a warrant issued for their arrest, and his union subject to sanctions. Barring that, having citizens hang a few of them along the pier will have an equal effect. NO ONE should be able to legally use force for their own benefit at the expense of others (Yes, that includes politicians, who if they do it, should also be hanged). Hanging is considered 'cruel and unusual' punishment, but it has a very good track record of reducing crime and eliminating recidivism.
Posted by: Old Patriot   2011-09-08 16:01  

#5  Damn Tea Party!

/sarc
Posted by: CrazyFool   2011-09-08 14:33  

#4  So, breaking and entering, enticing a riot, disorderly conduct, kidnapping, destruction of property, trespass...
Posted by: Skidmark   2011-09-08 13:41  

#3  The police know who they are, and where they are, but seem unable to either confront them or arrest them

It's a union brotherhood thing. Solidarity Forever!
Posted by: SteveS   2011-09-08 12:59  

#2  Good luck with that. Gregoire is a wholly-owned politician of the Unions and the Tribes.
Posted by: CrazyFool   2011-09-08 12:55  

#1  The police know who they are, and where they are, but seem unable to either confront them or arrest them for kidnapping, assault, vandalism, sabotage, making death threats, violating federal court orders, etc.

Maybe Governor Christine Gregoire should send in the National Guard, or Obama could send in the Rangers from Fort Lewis. Or if they're busy, the 1st SF Group.
Posted by: Anonymoose   2011-09-08 12:41  

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