Yesterday we shared the story of  hundreds of Longshoremen union thugs who 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 according to police reports and a statement from Longview Police Chief Jim Duscha.

In addition 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 seriously hurt, and nobody was 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. 

I wonder what the media would be reporting if these were Tea Partiers ?
About 400 union longshoremen blocked a train for about four hours outside the new EGT grain terminal at the Port of Longview, but the train passed through Wednesday evening after the protesters were confronted by about 50 officers in riot gear.

Nineteen union protesters were arrested and cited for second-degree trespassing, a misdemeanor. Three were arrested when a scuffle broke out with police, and 16 more were arrested when they refused to leave the tracks when the train started up again, Cowlitz County Sheriff Mark Nelson said. Deputies say they are also investigating alleged vandalism to the train after it stopped. The names of the arrested were not immediately available Wednesday night.

“It was a very, very ugly situation,” Nelson said, adding that he fears the conflict could escalate.


Police said a throng of protesters pushed against them, forcing them to beat them away with clubs and pepper spray. Union officials say they worried police were going to arrest Robert McEllrath, president of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, for trespassing, so they moved to protect him. McEllrath was not arrested.

…Last week, a federal judge ordered a temporary restraining order against ILWU Local 21 in Longview and Local 4 in Vancouver barring illegal picketing against EGT. Union members have harassed and threatened EGT workers numerous times during the dispute, according to the NLRB.





Work is at a standstill at some Northwest seaports, including Seattle, as a  long-simmering labor dispute turned violent Thursday morning. At least 500 longshoremen stormed the Port of Longview about 4:30 a.m. and  broke out windows in the guard shack, according to Longview Police Chief Jim  Duscha.

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.

Officials at the San Francisco-based ILWU international said the walkouts in  the Puget Sound area were in response to a widely circulated photo of ILWU  President Robert McEllrath being hauled away in handcuffs at a union train  protest in Longview on Wednesday. McElrath was not arrested, but an  Associated Press photo showed him being grabbed by several police officers  before union activists intervened and grabbed him back.
Scott Mason, president of Tacoma-based Local 21, said the walkouts may  continue in support of Longview longshoremen.
“If EGT continues to act in the manner they do … I can’t say our members  will not wildcat again. EGT can eliminate this any time by abiding by the  agreement they already signed. The ball is in their court,” Mason told The Daily  News in Tacoma on Thursday.
Operations at the Port of Longview were not delayed Thursday, Port Director  Ken O’Hollaren said. Officials at two grain export terminals in Kalama could not  be reached for comment.

Well this didn’t take long did it?   Less than 3 days after Teamsters Union President Jimmy Hoffa says “we will take out the Sons-of-Bitches”, the longshoremen Union is carrying “We are One” signs in solidarity of the AFL-CIO and their president Richard Trumka, who, coincidently, was in the congressional gallery seated next to First Lady Michelle Obama on Thursday night while listening to President Obama calling for protection of “Union Interests” on the chamber floor of the house.    
AFL-CIO boss Richard Trumka sits in the Capitol Building as a guest of President Obama while his union ally ILWU President Robert McEllrath is taking security guards hostage.  Err, anyone else see anything optically wrong with that?   Perhaps someone, anyone from the media will report about it?
Again, what would the media be reporting on if this was a Tea Party group.   Oh, wait, the Tea Party is already identified as being composed of Racist, Homophobic, Nativist, Islamaphobic, Bible Clinging, Gun Toting, Terroristic, Tree Hanging, JiHobbit Barbarian enemies who want a moat with alligators at the border.  
Sheesh, against that descriptive a bunch of violent baseball bat yielding kidnapper union thugs smashing a few windows and cursory heads just don’t sound that scary anymore…