Talk Elections

Not sure if this has been getting any attention outside the state but the longshoremen in Washington have been conducting a wildcat strike that's been shutting down ports for the past two days.

It started in the Port of Longview when a labor dispute grew more intense earlier this week. About 500 longshoremen stormed the port and committed some vandalism, stopped a train and allegedly held a few security guards hostage for a little while. A judge has issued an order to stop interfering with port operations but it's being completely disregarded.

The activity in Longview was then followed by sympathy strikes in Tacoma and Seattle which shut down both those ports. Haven't heard what's been going on in Olympia, Aberdeen or Everett.

It's unclear if the local unions are supporting the stoppages or if the members have just started doing this on their own.

http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/09/09/1815672/ports-in-state-brace-for-more.html

You call that a port? What do they still need longshoremen for? :P
What's it all about, originally?

The Port of Longview is opening a new grain terminal and rumor had it that they were going to hire non-longshoremen.

Here's some coverage by the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/09/business/union-dispute-near-seattle-turns-violent-and-idles-ports.html?_r=1

I like how "allegedly held a few security guards hostage for a little while" is buried in there. No big deal.

They were in a building and didn't feel comfortable leaving because of the crowd outside. I wouldn't really call that a hostage situation.

The longshoremen have long had a reputation, mostly well-deserved, of being one of the most thuggish of unions.  It helps explain why even in an anti-union state such as South Carolina the ports are unionized.

It certainly is if intimidation is involved.

I'm just going to let this one sit for awhile...

I wouldn't call them "hostages"... but they obviously felt threatened. 

I am sympathetic to strikers.. even angry ones.  But I think vandalism and the threat of violence is awful.  That does nothing but endanger others and sow disdain among Joe Q Public.

A union turning to vandalism and threats of violence because they didn't get their way?  shocking

From a historical perspective that is rather laughable- you Pinkerton supporting swine :)

Is it time to drop some bombs on 'em from a biplane yet?

I expect this thread to be full of union-bashing tools. Wonderful idea, Meeker.

If you can't defend your side, use insults to "win".

Solidarity with my Northwestern comrades!

I didn't say what they did was ok by any means. I'm just not sure hostage is the right word.

Translated: Don't post stories that rightfully make our side/our supporters look bad!

Nothing the union side could do would 'look bad' in the context of capitalism, KP, in which the violence of property is perpetrated upon the working class every day.

The Atlas forum is lucky to have Keystone Phil, who is totally not one of forum's biggest hacks, to act as a voice of reason.

()

Can I just say that I love the deep understanding of context and perspective that goes into anti-union analysis and rhetoric? It really makes us feel in good hands, the way some of the best minds of our generation put our priorities together.

Right, you can't defend the actions of your side so you attack.  We get it.  You guys don't need to keep bumping the thread to remind us.

says something for 'thuggery', no?  of course the stereotype only holds because of class-baiting; the greatest crimes are carried out by those wearing suits.

You're right, I can't defend it from a Kantian standpoint (which I hold). I'm not trying to. It's wrong.

You, on the other hand (maybe not you personally, but market fundamentalists as a group), flat-out deny how many lives your side has ruined.

It's certainly wrong to intimidate people. It's more wrong to plunge them into a bubbling vat of toxic decadent sludge here and pay for it by using slave labour there while selling off the country's wealth.

Tactics like this are generally counterproductive, though usually fit into a wider pattern of antagonism on both sides.