Once again The Stand — the daily propaganda publication of the Washington State Labor Council (WSLC) — demonstrates its confusion about the details surrounding the now-notorious grain dispute at the Port of Vancouver. Being benevolent souls, we here at SHIFT have taken it upon ourselves to help them out with some facts.
The Stand’s confusion (or willingness to ignore the truth) is evident in an “Editor’s Note” commenting on a story announcing a new contract ratified between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (Longshoremen) and the United Grain Corp. It reads,
EDITOR’S NOTE — You may recall that union scolds like state Sen. Don Benton(R-Vancouver) and The Seattle Times editorial board were blaming the grain backups on the 44 ILWU members who were locked out — not on strike, but locked out — of their jobs in Vancouver.
Now for the truth:
Grain back-ups at the Port of Vancouver occurred because grain inspectors—employees of the state Department of Agriculture—could not perform their jobs, due to the threatening behavior of Longshore members. State grain inspectors could not perform their jobs after Jay Inslee, deciding to take the side of his union campaign supporters, removed the protection of the state patrol.
Reminding the folks at The Stand again – state grain inspectors needed the protection of police officers because they feared for their lives. They feared for their lives because Longshoremen picketers threatened their lives.
State Sen. Don Benton and The Seattle Times editorial boards were not the only voices commenting on the Longshoremen’s thuggish tactics. Newspapers from the Columbian to the Oregonian reported on the threats made to state employees. In fact, the threats were originally reported by Ronald Hook, the regional director of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), who reported that Longshoremen picketers “threatened to rape the daughter of one of the employer’s managers,” and implied threats to harm a manager’s children by telling him they would “see his children at school” and asking, “are (his) children okay today?”
Despite that behavior, the propagandists at the State Labor Council assign no responsibility to the Longshoremen for the grain shipments shutdown. Guess it’s all good clean fun for them.
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