500 Union Workers Damage Railroad, Hold Security Guards Hostage

Kevin Hayden – TruthisTreason.net

Source: AP

Hundreds of Longshoremen stormed the Port of Longview early Thursday, overpowered and held security guards hostage, 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.

Hayden's Note:

EVERYone that participated in the destruction of private property, trespassing, lost production and transport time and certainly those who threatened responding police should be arrested. Period. Protesting against government is one thing. Resorting to violence when your employer tells you to hit the road and hires someone cheaper?… That's a civil issue. Holding security guards hostage, death threats and assaults with baseball bats are criminal acts reserved for low-life thugs and gangs.

Most of the protesters returned to their union hall after cutting brake lines and spilling grain from cars at the EGT terminal, Duscha said.

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.

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 is only the start.”

One police sergeant was threatened with baseball bats and retreated, Duscha said. “One officer with hundreds of Longshoremen? He used the better part of discretion.”

The train was the first grain shipment to arrive at Longview. It arrived Wednesday night after police arrested 19 demonstrators who tried to block the tracks. They were led by ILWU International President Robert McEllrath, who said they would return.

The blockade appeared to defy a federal restraining order issued last week against the union after it was accused of assaults and death threats.

EGT chief executive Larry Clarke said it was unfortunate that law enforcement needed to make arrests.