The Daily News in Longview, Wash., reported that the Coast Guard will protect a grain shipment from an onslaught of “Occupy” protesters and members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU). 
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.
Liberal, Union, Oops, Economy, Justice, Law, Jobs
After more than seven years of civil litigation, a federal jury has ruled that a dispute over which union got to plug and unplug reefer containers was a substantial part of the reason that the port of Portland, Oregon lost all of its containerized ocean freight services.
In a judgement entered in part on Monday, the jury ruled that alleged unlawful labor practices by the International Longshore Workers' Union and its Local 8 were a substantial factor in causing $94 million in damage to Portland's container terminal operator, ICTSI, which pulled out of its contract with the port in 2017...
After a brief period of deliberation on Monday, the federal jury found that ILWU's allegedly unlawful labor practices continued until March 2017 and contributed to $94 million worth of damages to ICTSI's business. The jury assigned 55 percent of the fault for damages to ILWU and 45 percent to the union's Local 8.
Crime, Union, Character, Vandalism
United Grain, a division of Japan's Mitsui & Co., said it hired a former FBI investigator to examine several suspicious equipment failures at the Vancouver terminal. On Monday, United Grain received a report from the investigator claiming that a ILWU Local 4 worker — a member of the union's bargaining committee — on Dec. 22 placed a two-foot-long metal pipe into the company's conveyor system, causing it to shut down. On the same day, the same worker put sand and water into a gear box, causing enough damage that it would have to be replaced at an estimated cost of $105,000, according to the investigator's report.
Crime, Union, Violence, Character, Threats, Assault, Vandalism
LONGVIEW, Wash. (AP) — 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.
Crime, Union, Violence, Character, Threats, Assault, Vandalism
"We're not surprised," Duscha said. "A lot of the protesters were telling us this in only the start." One sergeant was threatened with baseball bats and retreated, Duscha said. "One officer with hundreds of Longshoremen? He used the better part of discretion."
Crime, Union, Violence, Character, Threats, Assault, Vandalism
A longshore union protester was arrested Monday morning outside the EGT grain terminal gates at the Port of Longview for allegedly damaging a contractor's vehicle driving inside, Cowlitz County sheriff's deputies said.
Liberal, Union, Violence, Threats, Protest, Vandalism
President Barack Obama’s administration has ordered the United States Coast Guard to protect grain ships at the Port of Longview from violent “Occupy” protesters and dockworker union members, according to a local news report.
Crime, Union, Violence, Character, Threats, Assault, Vandalism
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — A longshore union has used death threats and physical assaults during protests at a new grain terminal at the Port of Longview, according to a complaint filed by federal officials. The National Labor Relations Board said in documents that picketers with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union have used unfair labor practices. The board wants the union to write a formal letter saying it will not block rail shipments to the facility managed by EGT in a joint venture with other entities.
Crime, Union
Now, the Labor Relations Board has concluded that the union has been "restraining and coercing employees" in violation of the National Labor Relations act.
Crime, Union, Violence, Character, Threats, Assault, Vandalism
A federal judge in Tacoma Thursday issued a temporary restraining order against the local longshore union that may clear the way for grain deliveries to the new $200 million EGT grain terminal at the Port of Longview. The order, which will be in effect for 10 days, prohibits union members from engaging in "unlawful ... picket line violence, threats and property damage, mass picketing and blocking of ingress and egress at the facility of EGT," U.S. District Court Judge Ronald B. Leighton wrote.