Jan., 2012: Join the Solidarity Caravan to Longview, WA
ILWU rank and file, Occupies in Longview, Portland, Seattle, Oakland, LA and
other West Coast Occupies are organizing to blockade a grain ship coming to
Longview. This ship is intended to load scab cargo from the EGT terminal. The
date won't be known until 3-4 days in advance, but is anticipated to be
sometime in January.
DEFEND ILWU LOCAL 21 AGAINST UNION BUSTING BY EGT
There's a war going on against dockworkers and their families in
Longview, Washington. Members of International Longshore & Warehouse Union
Local 21 have been arrested, beaten and their homes have been raided. They are
fighting to protect their union jobs against EGT, which is trying to break the
ILWU's coast-wide contract, established after the 1934 San Francisco
general strike and West Coast Maritime strike.
EGT, and their majority partner, Bunge NA, want to bust the ILWU, one of the
most militant, progressive unions in the U.S. EGT has defied the contract with
the Port of Longview and used scab labor to load its grain terminal. On Sept. 8
hundreds of angry longshore workers charged through the gates of the new EGT
export grain terminal at Longview. EGT claims that grain was dumped from a
107-car train, and a cyclone fence torn down.
At a time when national union membership has dropped to a 70 year low of
11.9%, and private sector workers in unions fell to 6.9%, this is part of the
1%'s attack to drive us all to the bottom. Even at these low membership
rates, nationally, median weekly wages for union members are $917, compared to
$717 for workers not in unions. The 1% not only wants to take away that extra
$200 from the remaining 14.7 million, who are unionized, but wants to destroy
all unions, especially the militant ILWU, to keep us from organizing to take
back what's rightfully ours.
FIGHTING WALL STREET ON THE WATERFRONT
EGT is part of "the 1%" – a joint venture between U.S.-based
Bunge North America, Japanese-based Itochu, and Korean-based STX Pan Ocean. A
ship hoping to load scab cargo from the EGT terminal is expected to arrive in
Longview early in 2012. If EGT is successful in its attack on the ILWU in
Longview, it will have a ripple effect on all port workers on the West
Coast.
The ILWU is a democratic, bottom-up union, with an activist rank and file,
which has a strong history of support for community issues, standing up against
Apartheid South Africa, against the war in Iraq, for the Wisconsin state
workers' struggle against union busting. Bay Area ILWU Local 10 backed
community protests about the police murder of Oscar Grant. They honored picket
lines in Occupy Oakland's 11/2 General Strike and 12/12 West Coast Port
Shutdown.
HOW YOU CAN HELP DEFEND LONGVIEW ILWU LOCAL 21 LONGSHORE WORKERS
Caravans to Longview and support actions are being organized up and down the
West Coast, nationally and internationally, to arrive in Longview to greet the
STX ship coming to load the scab grain. The Bay Area's ILWU Local 10 has
pledged support for ILWU Local 21's struggle against EGT and their union
busting drive, funding a bus to Longview. The San Francisco Labor Council is on
board.
If you want to be part of this critical working class struggle, please fill
out the sign up form. We need you and your organization to commit
to join the caravan, or other solidarity actions, and contribute to this
important campaign of solidarity.
Again, the date won't be known until 3-4 days in advance, but is
anticipated to be sometime in January. As soon as we have official
word of the ship's pending arrival, we will contact you, by email and
phone, to let you know it's time to mobilize to Longview. If you have a
car, and are able to take others, please indicate this on the form. Supporters
will also be renting vans and buses. If you want to be a passenger, again
indicate so on the form.
Note: Bunge, NA, one of EGT's parent companies, is headquartered in St.
Louis, Missouri, with offices in Washington, D.C. If you are in these areas,
ask your local Occupy to organize solidarity actions in conjunction with the
ship's arrival in Longview. EGT also has facilities in Chester and Kintyre
Flats, Montana. They are also building a high capacity shuttle train loader in
Carter, Montana. Bunge has locations all over the Midwest and South. To see if
there is a location near you, see www.bungenorthamerica.com/locations/usa/index.shtml
For updates and further information, visit:
