Battle of the Lower Columbia goes on

9-24-11
The Daily Newsl
ILWU Ladies Auxiliary protests alleged police brutality
By Tony Lystra
http://tdn.com/news/local/article_41e7df04-e71f-11e0-a311-001cc4c03286.html
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John Markon / The Daily News
 Amanda Bornstedt, left, carried a homemade "Hugs for Thugs" sign at Saturday's pro-union rally for women in West Kelso because she "liked the non-violent message"
About 50 women, most of them members of the International Warehouse and Longshore Union's Ladies Auxiliary, staged a protest in West Kelso Saturday afternoon, alleging their members were brutalized by police during a protest at the EGT grain terminal Wednesday.
Nearly a dozen female protesters arrested as they helped block a train carrying grain to the Longview terminal complained of back injury, sprains and strains to their shoulders, said Karin Hogg of Longview, who identified herself as the Ladies Auxiliary vice president. One woman was diagnosed with a torn rotator cuff, she said.
Hogg noted that security officers employed by the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad arrested the women Wednesday, but she said local law enforcement officers watched. "Many of them laughed and they were high-fiving and fist-pumping," Hogg said of the local police.
"We wanted to come out and let everybody know this isn't OK," Hogg said.
Dan Coffman, president of ILWU Longview Local 21, and two other men also were arrested during the Wednesday incident.
The ILWU Ladies Auxiliary has recently played a more prominent role in protests over the longshoremen's right to work at the grain terminal. On Saturday, protesters occupied street corners on First Avenue at the Allen Street Bridge. They wore fake black eyes drawn in with make-up and carried signs reading, "Stop the violence" and "Badges are not a license for brutality."
Some signs called for the recall of Cowlitz County Sheriff Mark Nelson, whose agency has been in charge of law enforcement activity at the grain terminal.
The women asked for and received plenty of supportive honks from passing cars.
Nelson said he stands behind the law enforcement officers responding to protests at the plant but added it would be inappropriate for him to comment further because of a federal civil rights lawsuit alleging police brutality and harassment that was filed by the union last week.
The Ladies Auxiliary was joined in its Saturday protest by a few members of the Freedom Socialist Party from Portland, which issued a statement earlier this month supporting the longshoremen.
Jordana Sardo, described the Freedom Socialists as a "socialist, feminist political party" and said the dispute between the longshoremen and EGT is "critical to the entire labor movement."
"Corporations don't get to decide who they're going to hire when it comes to union labor," Sardo said.
Of Wednesday's arrests, she said "The violence that police did to women is endemic of the police and it's also part of the whole culture of capitalism."
Sardo said she expected about a half dozen party members to join the Ladies Auxiliary's rally Saturday and that more would attend future protests.
About 135 people, including several union leaders, have been arrested in connection with protests at the terminal. The union claims EGT's lease with the Port of Longview requires use of ILWU members at the $200 million grain terminal. EGT says it can hire whomever it wants.
9-23-11
Grain terminal worker charged with hit and run for picket line incident
StoryDiscussionGrain terminal worker charged with hit and run for picket line incident
By Tony Lystra
http://tdn.com/news/local/article_f04f5d3c-e653-11e0-9ffc-001cc4c002e0.html
The Cowlitz County Prosecutor's Office has charged an Oregon City man with two counts of felony hit-and-run after he allegedly drove a Chevy Suburban into two men protesting at the EGT grain terminal Aug. 29.
A sheriff's report said Brandon Keith Butler, 37, was driving less than 5 mph when his Suburban struck Matthew P. Hellem, 39, and Lauran Jay Poage, 53, both of Kelso.
Both men were trying to block Butler from entering the terminal during a longshore protest. Hellem shouted an obscenity and called Butler, a grain trerminal employee, a "scab" just before the incident, according to the report.
A video of the incident shows the SUV pushing two men to the ground as it passes through the terminal's gates. The sheriff's office has identified the victims as Hellem and Poage. The video, an early indication of rising tensions in the standoff between the company and the union, has been viewed thousands of times on YouTube.
Butler later told a sheriff's investigator that "he thought it wasn't a good idea for him to stop" and he worried his vehicle was going to be damaged or he would be injured, according to the report. The report noted that Butler did not call 9-1-1 or contact law enforcement about the incident.
Hellem said his right knee and back were sore after he was struck by the vehicle, according to the report. Poage said he was left with a bruise on the inside of his knee.
A clerk's office official said a summons was being prepared for Butler.
Members of the International Warehouse and Longshore Union have blocked trains and picketed over EGT's refusal to hire union dockworkers to run the $200 million terminal. The union contends EGT is obligated to hire union longshore workers under terms of the company's lease with the Port of Longview. The matter is scheduled to go to court next year.
About 135 people, including several union leaders, have been arrested in connection with protests at the plant.