Omaha Steve Steps in Farmer's Fudge

[zeitgeist]

I grabbed this entire thread because I felt it might be purged and it was short:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4988304

Omaha Steve  (1000+ posts)        Thu Sep-08-11 12:38 PM
Original message
Longshoremen storm Wash. port over labor dispute (overpowered and held 6 security guards)
 Edited on Thu Sep-08-11 12:41 PM by Omaha Steve
Source: AP-Excite

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.

No one was hurt, and nobody has been arrested. Most of the protesters returned to their union hall after cutting brake lines and spilling grain from car at the EGT terminal, Duscha said.

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union believes it has the right to work at the facility, but the company has hired a contractor that's staffing a workforce of other union laborers.


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20110908/D9PKE0CG2.htm...


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


A union worker blocks a grain train in Longview, Wash., Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2011. Longshoremen blocked the train as part of an escalating dispute about labor at the EGT grain terminal at the Port of Longview.(AP Photo/Don Ryan)


 
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   elleng  (1000+ posts)        Thu Sep-08-11 12:44 PM
Response to Original message
1. Good to see this, and remember there are/were some here who WOULD physically protest.
 Its uncommon among most.
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 DeSwiss  (1000+ posts)        Thu Sep-08-11 12:45 PM
Response to Original message
2. GENERAL STRIKE  
 All over the world.

 - That's when we'll have their attention and only then......

K&R


 
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 patrice  (1000+ posts)        Thu Sep-08-11 12:47 PM
Response to Original message
3. Goodness and Light be with these Workers and bring them Economic Justice!  
  
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Captain Lee (13 posts)      Thu Sep-08-11 12:51 PM
Response to Original message
4. Counter-productive at best, dumbass more likely
 From the article: "The International Longshore and Warehouse Union believes it has the right to work at the facility, but the company has hired a contractor that's staffing a workforce of other union laborers."

So, it's not a union versus non-union fight, it's a 'my union' versus 'the other union' fight.

Hostage taking? Are you f'ing kidding me? Way to rally public support. Thank God the security guards were unarmed or 'exercised restraint'. Personally, I hope the organizers are arrested and charged with kidnapping. Domestic terrorism is NOT acceptable by ANY side.

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Oh Captain, my Captain.  I see a granite pizza coming for you!!

 SoapBox (1000+ posts)      Thu Sep-08-11 12:52 PM
Response to Original message
5. Bravo!
 ...and I can't help but contrast how these folks have to act to get a voice heard, compared to this article:

"Michigan Protesters Against Hate Pastor Terry Jones Were ***Told By Police To Keep Their Voices Down***"

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/09/08/314384/mic... /

At every turn, we are being suppressed, screwed, ordered around and held down.

Vote America...for gawd's sake, vote!
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 zogofzorkon (231 posts)      Thu Sep-08-11 12:52 PM
Response to Original message
6. Return to the roots, it wasn't accomodating, bending over, or caving that
 brought better conditions for all workers.  
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DU AdBot (1000+ posts)      

Union thugs take hostages ?    

[FreeBorn]

"Physically protest". No, DUmmie, your wordplay does not legitimize criminal activity. Assault is assault no matter how you try to spin it.

[franksolich]

Okay, question.

Most of the protesters returned to their union hall after cutting brake lines and spilling grain from car at the EGT terminal, Duscha said.

Wouldn't this be a crime, malicious destruction?

Or perhaps it would be okay with my fellow Nebraskan if some larking teenagers in Bellevue late at night cut the electrical wires to his house, just for the fun of it?

One can't have it both ways; both are either wrong, or okay with Omaha Steve.

[FiddyBeowulf]

zogofzorkon (231 posts)      Thu Sep-08-11 12:52 PM
Response to Original message
6. Return to the roots, it wasn't accomodating, bending over, or caving that
 brought better conditions for all workers. 
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I agree. Let the company bring in some Pinkertons to crack some heads.

[Karin]

It's still there.  Here's another noob;

boomerone (10 posts)      Thu Sep-08-11 01:18 PM
Response to Reply #6
8. You said it the best. It will soon be time to get our shovels, rakes
 and picks out and begin our own assaults. If this is not done, we will be made slaves.

You know damn well you don't own any of these tools of actual work.  Even yard work.  Rakes?  
Is that a mole?  

Hoopla Phil (1000+ posts)     Thu Sep-08-11 01:33 PM
Response to Original message
10. I don't see one union protesting that a different union got the contract as  
 a good thing. This can quickly turn into union vs. union violence.  

 Yep.  A thug is a thug.  

Here's what Captain Lee said in defense of himself:

bongbong (1000+ posts)        Thu Sep-08-11 01:39 PM
Response to Reply #7
13. History?
 Wingnuts like the captain don't need history. They get their ideas from their gut (usually sizable), and hate-radio.

Captain Lee (14 posts)      Thu Sep-08-11 01:48 PM
Response to Reply #13
15. That was uncalled for
 Edited on Thu Sep-08-11 01:49 PM by Captain Lee
WTH? That was uncivil of you. Where do you find anything I wrote to be the product of either my gut or the radio (which is mostly tuned to NPR, thank you very much).

Read the entire article, then google related articles. I think what I wrote is very clear and accurate.

Is it okay to have Tea Party folks storm a town hall and hold people hostage? If not, it's not okay in this instance either. If it is, carry on then. Forget I said anything.

[Mike220]

Captain Lee (14 posts)      Thu Sep-08-11 01:48 PM
Response to Reply #13
15. That was uncalled for
 Edited on Thu Sep-08-11 01:49 PM by Captain Lee
WTH? That was uncivil of you. Where do you find anything I wrote to be the product of either my gut or the radio (which is mostly tuned to NPR, thank you very much).

Read the entire article, then google related articles. I think what I wrote is very clear and accurate.

Is it okay to have Tea Party folks storm a town hall and hold people hostage? If not, it's not okay in this instance either. If it is, carry on then. Forget I said anything.

Mole, and not a very good one either. Should have used the phrase "Teabaggers" to deflect attention. I think I hear chisels being sharpened.

[Erasmus]

2. GENERAL STRIKE  
 All over the world.

 - That's when we'll have their attention and only then......

What % of the US is union?  11.9%?  And you'd better not strike during the summer, because the screwal teachers are already not working.  A third of that 11.9% is government workers, and I wish they'd strike for the next 50 years.  So how, again, would we notice a general strike, DUmbass?

[Rugnuts]

2. GENERAL STRIKE  
 All over the world.

What % of the US is union?  11.9%?  And you'd better not strike during the summer, because the screwal teachers are already not working.  A third of that 11.9% is government workers, and I wish they'd strike for the next 50 years.  So how, again, would we notice a general strike, DUmbass?

in 2010 there were 14.7 union members in the us INFO
there are 14 million unemployed INFO (i realize there are more unemployed/underemployed that are not part of these stats)

lets do a 14 million person swap.

[Karin]

The guy who posted GENERAL STRIKE followed it with a bunch of picture of strikes.  These were very old photos, illustrating just how irrelevant unions are today.

[zeitgeist]

Okay, question.

Wouldn't this be a crime, malicious destruction?

Or perhaps it would be okay with my fellow Nebraskan if some larking teenagers in Bellevue late at night cut the electrical wires to his house, just for the fun of it?

One can't have it both ways; both are either wrong, or okay with Omaha Steve.

FDR saw to it that it wouldn't be a problem:

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Sixty years after the rise of organized labor's political machine during the New Deal, union officials remain the only class of citizens allowed, under federal law, to commit violence against their fellow citizens.

Under the U.S. Supreme Court's infamous Enmons decision, union officials may destroy property, assault employees, and even murder them, and escape prosecution under federal extortion laws, so long as such violence is undertaken to secure what the Supreme Court called "legitimate" objectives, such as wage increases.

{snip}


http://www.thelaborers.net/HISTORY/violence_union_privilege.htm

Don't that just  make ya all damp and droopy Coach.

[JohnnyReb]

The trouble is spreading...Seattle....Tacoma

http://tdn.com/news/state-and-regional/washington/article_c53ac622-da37-11e0-a6f1-001cc4c002e0.html

[zeitgeist]

The trouble is spreading...Seattle....Tacoma

http://tdn.com/news/state-and-regional/washington/article_c53ac622-da37-11e0-a6f1-001cc4c002e0.html

And wait until the word gets out about what a typical union longshoreman makes. 

There is a reason why they bring container ships in south of the border, down Mexico way,  to be unloaded.

[DumbAss Tanker]

If you had to name a union that was even more notorious for corruption and criminal activity than the Teamsters, it would be the Longshoremen.

[franksolich]

If you had to name a union that was even more notorious for corruption and criminal activity than the Teamsters, it would be the Longshoremen.

Oh yeah, one of my fellow Nebraskan's personal heroes.

The Australian Harry Bridges.

I suppose he's been dead for a while now, though.

[FreeBorn]

The trouble is spreading...Seattle....Tacoma

http://tdn.com/news/state-and-regional/washington/article_c53ac622-da37-11e0-a6f1-001cc4c002e0.html

Some outlets are reporting longshormen from up and down the leftist coast are converging on Washington to join in the festivities.

[JohnnyReb]

Some outlets are reporting longshormen from up and down the leftist coast are converging on Washington to join in the festivities.

It'll be like hunting a baited field.

[FreeBorn]

And wait until the word gets out about what a typical union longshoreman makes. 

There is a reason why they bring container ships in south of the border, down Mexico way,  to be unloaded.

This article mentions their wages, among other things~

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0903/is_n8_v9/ai_11195872/

[NHSparky]

$70K?  Try (more than) double that.

Problem is, good luck getting that without waiting for 20-30 years.

[JohnnyReb]

$70K?  Try (more than) double that.

Problem is, good luck getting that without waiting for 20-30 years.

I've been told that there's only 2 ways to get a job at the port of Charleston, S.C.. You're either born into the family or you marry into it.

[NHSparky]

I've been told that there's only 2 ways to get a job at the port of Charleston, S.C.. You're either born into the family or you marry into it.

Utilities are a little better, but similar.  Couple that with the very low (under 5 percent per year) turnover in a power plant or other electrical/gas utility, and you might as well be family.  Both places I've worked since I've gotten out have had multiple generation employees--in a few cases, 3 generations at the same time.

[FreeBorn]

$70K?  Try (more than) double that.

Problem is, good luck getting that without waiting for 20-30 years.

That article is ten years old.

[USA4ME]

If the roles were reversed, wouldn't this be where the primitives would be proclaiming that Hoffa's call to "take out those SOB's" has incited his deranged followers to act violently?  Yes, it would be.

.

[NHSparky]

That article is ten years old.

I'm not the one who posted it.  I knew a few guys who worked in Long Beach and LA.  Holy crap, and I thought I was making out like a bandit when I was working 7-12's on a cutover.

[JohnnyReb]

Utilities are a little better, but similar.  Couple that with the very low (under 5 percent per year) turnover in a power plant or other electrical/gas utility, and you might as well be family.  Both places I've worked since I've gotten out have had multiple generation employees--in a few cases, 3 generations at the same time.

30 years ago, I interviewed for a job with Duke Energy. The coal/hydro side was that way but in the nuclear side of the company, family wasn't allowed to work together. I was told that was government rules. I was offered a job but then it was rescinded when they discovered what my brother in law's job was.

[tanstaafl]

$70K?  Try (more than) double that.

Problem is, good luck getting that without waiting for 20-30 years.

That article was from 20 years ago. Once I saw the $40-70k range, I thought "not today".