•  HOME 
  •  ARCHIVES 
  •  BOOKS 
  •  PDF ARCHIVE 
  •  WWP 
  •  SUBSCRIBE 
  •  DONATE 
  •  MUNDOOBRERO.ORG
  • Loading


Follow workers.org on
Twitter Facebook iGoogle




Understanding the ILWU struggle in Longview

Published Apr 5, 2012 7:44 PM

After a long, heroic struggle, reported in many previous issues of Workers World, which included history-making collaboration among rank-and-file International Longshore & Warehouse Union members, labor and the Occupy movement, some have expressed shock and dismay at the resulting contract for ILWU Local 21 in Longview, Wash. In looking at the Local 21 contract with EGT, one should realize that it is one piece in the on-going battle of the workers against the malicious and insatiable greed of the ruling class.

EGT’s new grain facility in Longview is a joint venture of Bunge North America, ITOCHU International Inc. and STX Pan Ocean. They saw, in the small port town of Longview, an opportunity to decisively break the stronghold of the militant ILWU over the entire West Coast.

Yes, ILWU International President Robert McEllrath allowed management to get its foot in the door at the hiring hall. Additionally, ILWU Supercargoes and Clerks Union Local 40 was totally left out of the contract, despite having fought side by side with Local 21 in the struggle against EGT, among other issues. These serious concerns must be viewed, however, within the perspective of the overall victory of maintaining ILWU jurisdiction. Understanding this perspective requires a review.

Labor-community united front: path for future struggles

Despite the concessionary nature of the contract, it must be remembered that EGT originally signed a five-year contract with a subcontractor, General Construction, to avoid ILWU jurisdiction. Due to the remarkable, unprecedented alliance between ILWU ranks and the community, EGT was forced to cancel that contract and pay any associated penalties, when EGT was made to back down and sign the agreement to honor ILWU jurisdiction at both the grain terminal and shipside. As Clarence Thomas, ILWU Local 10 Coastwide Caucus & Convention Delegate and Million Worker March Movement co-chair, told Workers World, “EGT had had no intention of dealing with the ILWU!”

The embattled Longview ILWU Local 21 members had sparked a surge of solidarity and admiration when they fought for their jobs by blocking trains carrying grain to the scab EGT terminal last summer and in September when they again blocked trains, also dumping scab grain. They faced down brutal police, who invaded the fighting workers’ homes and tried to intimidate family members.

ILWU dockworkers from other ports responded by coming to Longview to reinforce the picket lines, shutting down their home ports in the process. Thomas said that “ILWU Local 21 set the tone in the strongest traditions of the ILWU.“

Following that, Occupy demonstrated its clout in the Nov. 2 Oakland General Strike and Port Shutdown and the Dec. 12 West Coast Port Shutdowns, with ILWU dockworkers refusing to cross community picket lines. On D12 Occupy shut down Oakland, Portland, Longview and Seattle ports and significantly slowed operations at other ports. The three points of unity of the D12 port shutdowns were support for ILWU Local 21 in their struggle against EGT, support for port truck drivers, and response to the recent repression of Occupy groups across the country.

The combined forces of ILWU and Occupy created a militant, unprecedented labor-community united front. So when EGT announced that it intended to load scab grain onto the first ship at its new EGT terminal in Longview, the united front organized car caravans ready to converge at a moment’s notice on Longview to stop EGT and even block the ship.

However, the battle in Longview wasn’t allowed to be consummated, due to government interference by Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire and the U.S. Coast Guard, as well as by ILWU President McEllrath.

The looming conflict was stopped short of execution by a last-minute deal, brokered by Gregoire, in fear of the pending struggle. Even after signing the initial agreement, recognizing the ILWU hiring hall, EGT still had the U.S. Coast Guard escort its ship into the Port of Longview, in fear of reprisals by the militant defenders of the union. The power of this collaboration among the workers and community has highlighted a path for future struggles.

Building labor-community solidarity

Thomas told WW, “The government was very mindful of the ramifications of our struggle … if indeed there would have been a major showdown in Longview, what that could have done to ignite other struggles on the waterfront beyond the West Coast.” After all, Gov. Gregoire had met with the negotiating team many times before this settlement. The deal was only finally brokered in light of the imminent mobilization to stop the loading of the scab ship.

Thomas continued “There were many forces arrayed against the ILWU. We were not only going up against multinational Bunge – the grain merchant — but also the courts, the National Labor Relations Board, the U.S. Coast Guard, a scab labor force, and dealing with the Democratic political establishment of the state of Washington. It took rank-and-file members, other members of organized labor and Occupy. This wasn’t just a victory for the ILWU.”

Thomas went on to say “This surprising coalition of labor and community forces was able to outmaneuver all of these combined forces. It was only because they thought there was going to be a major showdown on the Columbia River, at the docks, and on the streets of Longview — that’s what turned the tide. In all of these forces coming together, the leadership of rank-and-file members, Occupy and the community were able to overcome ideology, racism and other internal differences, which the ruling class typically exploits.”

One has to look at this as one part of a much larger battle against the capitalist system. The role of community involvement in the labor struggle has been proven to be an essential strategy for battles going forward. The complexities of this struggle should not be oversimplified to just a bad contract and faulty union leadership. It is critical to recognize that the ports play a pivotal role in the supply chain of the capitalists. The industries which run the ports, like the EGT conglomerate and its major stakeholder Bunge, control international trade — a major component of the heartbeat of global capitalism.

Technology is putting new pressures into the mix, with the elimination of many jobs due to automation. For example, instead of workers on the cranes, the cranes can now be operated simultaneously from a control room. The International Longshoremen’s Association has been dealing with this in Norfolk, Va., for four years, with new automated systems coming online in Bayonne, N.J., and Jacksonville, Fla.

In a related industry, struggle has recently broken out on the part of port truckers in Seattle. The truckers, primarily immigrants — Latino/a, African, Arabic and Asian — are fighting a heroic struggle to organize for safety, living wages and benefits, dignity and justice.

Along with widening the Panama Canal, which allows the East Coast to handle larger ships, developing technology will allow these huge conglomerates to whipsaw the East and West Coast in competition for jobs.

Dave Welsh, a union delegate who participated in Occupy Oakland’s mobilization for Longview, described the struggle in Longview to WW as “going up against a juggernaut — EGT and the grain cartel, the state government, the U.S. Coast Guard, police and the courts. Despite all this, Occupy and the ILWU ranks were able to push these adversaries back on their heels.”

Despite many negative parts of the contract, Thomas said that “the ILWU is still getting pensions and health care funded.” He emphasized: “This EGT struggle has shown the labor movement that if it wants to win, it needs to set up new coalitions — with the Occupy movement and the community. In the final analysis, the rank and file will have to come to grips with this contract internally.”

Make no mistake, the contract itself is not a victory. President McEllrath, who brokered the concessionary deal, hogtied the struggle with his gag orders to Local 21 in an attempt to isolate the embattled local from its strongest supporters. McEllrath has dug himself in with collaborative ideology, buying into the idea that the workers’ jobs only exist if the company is prosperous, which ties the union’s fate to that of the capitalists. McEllrath allowed concessions, such as the high-tech control room to be run by management, which sets a negative precedent for future contracts.

Nonetheless, the conclusion of this contract maintains the ILWU jurisdiction across the West Coast ports, despite every attempt of EGT and its ruling class cohorts to break it. This struggle has allowed labor to see the possibilities of and necessity for newly forged labor/community alliances, and has allowed the ILWU to live to fight another day.