"Oregon AFL-CIO E-Board Passes Resolution Condemning OE Local 701"

Longshore & Shipping News

Whereas, the only way that EGT could neutralize this public demand to honor its agreement to hire union ILWU longshoremen was to find another union to collude with the employer to create window dressing to trick people into thinking the union issue had been resolved, and

Whereas, EGT found said willingness to undermine ILWU longshore standards among the leadership of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 701, and whereas,

OE Local 701 has not only agreed to work in collusion with the employer to scab on the docks at Longview but has also sided with the multinational, union-busting employer in the media against the ILWU longshore collective actions at the Port of Longview, and;

Be it resolved that the Oregon AFL-CIO state federation Executive Board and its local union affiliates condemn in the strongest way possible the scab labor actions of OE Local 701, and further;

Be it resolved that the Oregon AFL-CIO state federation send a letter to OE Local 701 demanding that Local 701 immediately cease and desist from allowing its members to displace ILWU longshoremen at the EGT facility in the Port of Longview, and finally;

Be it resolved that the Oregon AFL-CIO publicize this resolution and its opposition to Local 701’s actions on its web site’s front page and as the headline issue in its Weekly Update.


http://www.longshoreshippingnews.com/

Socialist Worker.org

Then, on July 13, starting around 11 p.m., over 600 Local 21 members and supporters participated in a mass direct action to block the railroad tracks into the facility, preventing a Burlington Northern Santa Fe train from delivering grain. After a four-hour standoff, the train had to be rerouted to a terminal in Vancouver, Wash.

Local 21 is up against several nasty corporate giants in this fight--EGT Development is a joint venture of Japan-based Itochu Corp, South Korea's STX Pan Ocean and St. Louis-based Bunge North America. Itochu ranks 201 on Fortune's Global 500 list of the world's largest corporations, and Bunge is number 182.

For over two years, EGT has complained about the extra $1 million in labor costs it would take to pay for ILWU members, compared to non-union labor. Yet Bunge's profits were just under $2.5 billion in 2010. Think Archer-Daniels Midland and Cargill to get an idea of Bunge's main competitors.

Disgustingly, the operating engineers union agreed to scab on Local 21 and take longshore jobs at the terminal. But as the July 22 picket by Local 21 members showed, scabs could literally end up with egg on their face--Longview police alleged eggs were thrown at scab cars.


http://socialistworker.org/2011/07/26/ilwu-takes-on-a-union-buster