Today April 17, 1012, Judge Leighton ruled

“The Union has adequately pled its causes of action against Mr. Nelson” and the facts described in the union’s complaint “are sufficient to state a claims for municipal liability” against Cowlitz County.

In the same order, the judge granted the ILWU’s request to add Cowlitz County’s top prosecutor District Attorney Susan Baur and Deputy County Sherriff Charles Rosenzweig as defendants, along with Captain Mark Nelson to the case, again rejecting the County’s arguments and adding another win for the ILWU.

Read The Whole Story: http://www.ilwu.org/?p=3664

These victories follow closely on the heels of another ILWU legal victory just over a week ago. On April 6, the United States Magistrate Judge J. Richard Creatura of the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington threw out the City of Longview’s request for sanctions against the ILWU.

“Today’s ruling means the court can hear important evidence showing that law enforcement and the Prosecuting Attorney’s office sided with the port and big business in the EGT dispute instead of defending the broader public interest,” said ILWU Coast Committeeman Leal Sundet.

Read The Whole Story: http://www.ilwu.org/?p=3664

As the chairman of the Cowlitz Wahkiakum Central Labor Council (Cow-Wah CLC) during the ILWU/EGT dispute I had the responsibility of trying to keep the peace and fulfill my responsibilities to the objectives of the Constitution and Bylaws of the Cow-Wah CLC.

This was, to say the least was “very challenging” during this period of heightened awareness.

In order to fulfill these obligations and be successful it required careful observation, gathering and understanding of the facts, communicating with interested parties and troubleshooting by eliminating things that don’t work and continually searching for something that will.

I have 30 years of experience in the construction industry; as a craftsperson, supervisor and steward combine this with my 4 years as a Business Agent for UA Local 26 and my career has been filled with troubleshooting challenges on a daily basis. This gave me many valuable life lessons.  Most importantly,  I have learned, when making a critical decision to “get out in the field and gather evidence personally” don’t rely on others.

I served in the Presidents’ capacity of two Council’s, at a time when our community was being divided over issues. Issues which seemed pretty clear to most of our local politicians. The ILWU was working under had a contract with The Port of Longview and EGT was not going to honor the document, even if the Port of Longview filed suit against EGT for violation of the agreement.

Our local citizens were not being treated fairly by a new out-of-town employer and it was our responsibility to rally around those in need and find a workable solution to our problem within the means of the law, yet fully exercising our constitutional rights.

On September 7^th everyone at the rally was under the impression they were not trespassing according to a map the Port of Longview had previously given the ILWU.  I was there to get as close as legally possible to the scene and observe the actions.  I was in communication with other higher level Washington State Labor Leaders that were not able to get there. I was able to report to them first hand, of the event’s taking place.

Jeff Johnson,President of the Washington State Labor Council had been working around the clock on this issue for the past several months, as well as, Dave Myers Executive Secretary of the Washington State Building and Construction Trades Council.  I was there as a responsible party to report my findings and continue to help craft a workable solution to the ongoing protest.  I am much more valuable to this community as a troubleshooter not a trouble maker.

Once the early September protests were over we learned dealing directly with EGT was a dead end road and we needed more help.  On September 27^th the Labor Council held a special meeting with representatives from the ILWU including Dan Coffman and the 19^th Legislative District Representatives; Brian Blake and Dean Takko, along with Senator Mark Hatfield.

After discussing many ideas during the meeting we finally realized what it is going to take to settle the issue.  Get ILWU President “Big Bob McElrath” and EGT CEO “Larry Clarke” in the same room together with the Washington State out-going Governor.   This succeeded and many,many meetings later it was settled.

However for many of us, it was just the beginning as each of us is being individually dragged through the courts.

“Tell me and I’ll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I’ll understand.”

-Chinese proverb

The International Newspaper Workers Vanguard No. 998, as of March 16, 2012 is reporting The Partisan Defense Committee is calling for ‘support letters’ against the prosecution of ILWU members and Supporters’. http://www.icl-fi.org/english/wv/998/longview.html

As reported in the Workers’ Vanguard, “ Even now, after a settlement has been reached between the ILWU and EGT, Cowlitz County prosecutor Susan Baur, working hand in glove with the county sheriff’s department and local police, continues to escalate the anti-union vendetta. New charges, including felonies, are being manufactured over events that occurred many months ago. This vindictive prosecution is a shot at all of labor, aimed at creating a chilling effect on trade unionists.”

Not to mention the effect on supporters’ who have been charged and sentenced equally to those union members. It is clear the Prosecutor is sending the message to all demonstrations. By attending an event with a crowd and if members of the crowd act out, you will be CHARGED equally. The Cowlitz County Prosecutor wants’ you to know, you are guilty by association.

Now in Vancouver, Wa, where the same situation of the Train Delay in the morning of Sept. 7th, no one was hurt and no charges were filed in Clark County yet, things were handled so differently in Cowlitz County.  Inquiring minds would like to know why? Who directed the massive effort against our local citizenry?

Typically in demonstrations the Police/Sheriff get between the crowd. However, not in Longview because the Sheriff/Police were behind the crowd, picking up the low-hanging fruit so to speak. The crowd was between the Sheriff and the Train, even though other access was available for the police.

Could it be that in Cowlitz County, the local law is always running behind, whether in planning, or in responding to a situation, always orchestrated by some hire authority other than its’ citizenry?

Thank you Partisan Defense Committee for your call of Support!

Protest State Vendetta Against Longview ILWU and Its Allies!

Letters demanding that all charges be dropped and fines and other penalties rescinded should be sent to: 

Susan Baur, Cowlitz County Prosecuting Attorney
Hall of Justice, Room 105
312 SW 1st Avenue
Kelso, WA 98626
Fax: (360) 414-9121

Copies should be sent to:

Governor Christine Gregoire
P.O. Box 40002
Olympia, WA 98504-0002
Fax: (360) 753-4110

Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna
1125 Washington Street SE
P.O. Box 40100
Olympia, WA 98504-0100
Fax: (360) 664-0228

Additional copies should be sent to:

President Dan Coffman, Executive Board and Members of ILWU Local 21
617 14th Avenue
Longview, WA 98632
Fax: (360) 423-0642
E-mail: ilwu21@iinet.com

President Robert McEllrath, IEB and Coast Committeemen
ILWU International
1188 Franklin Street, 4th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94109-6800
Fax: (415) 775-1302
E-mail: Info@ilwu.org

Partisan Defense Committee
P.O. Box 99, Canal Street Station
New York, NY 10013-0099
Fax: (212) 406-2210
E-mail: partisandefense@earthlink.net

Mark this day as significant day to be remembered 1/23/12, a day when a tiny little mill town, fought long and hard for local jobs against a multinational Corporation and WON.

Mark this date on your calendars, January 23, 2012,

EGT has reached a tentative agreement favoring our locally organized ILWU workforce…..

We hope the Chinese New Years Luck will spread to our other labor issues, as organized labor continues to encounter attacks on multiple fronts on a daily basis.

READ More here at savelocaljobs.com as it occurs.

“The Conservation Reserve Program, which takes millions of acres of cropland out of production and helps reduce erosion while protecting wildlife, is an example of an “overzealous” federal government initiative, said former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum at a Townhall meeting in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.” as reported by the The Des Moines Register on December 28th, 2011.

“I know a lot of farmers do, you know, raise pheasants. I know that you don’t have a whole lot of them (pheasants) any more in Iowa. That’s great. But we shouldn’t be paying farmers to do that. We should let farmers determine where there are critical environmental areas. That is one thing. But to have 32 million critical environmental acres out there is as a result of an overzealous program. So those are the kinds of things that we can and should do when it come to the agriculture program.”

Well Mr. Santorum, the cats out of the bag, You have confirmed what many of us have known for a long time now, Republicans aim to eliminate all sorts of protections aimed at protecting our food, lands, air and waterways. The funding mechanisms to renew these Conservation Reserve Program leases are basically being systematically eliminated and the dollar amount per acre for renewals is set unrealistically low.

The local farmer is faced with a choice on tilling up this newly available land and gambling on the weather or selling the land to a multinational corporation at top dollar. Given the choice, the local farmer is no longer in the financial position to “do what is best for the land” as Mr. Santorum indicates.

How many of you folks run your checkbook based on the principles of what is best for the environment, the community, the health of the next generation? 

If you have limited resources, “what is best” is what you can afford to do or buy based on the budget. Let’s remember why these lands were put into a Conservation Reserve LEASE originally. The LEASES were intended to prevent the land from being tilled……………. in order to prevent another DUST BOWL. 

Mr. Santorum for your history lesson, left to complete local control, we know what happens, over-fishing,over-harvesting, over utilization of the resource. Afterall, what was the person thinking when the last Tree on Easter Island was cut down? Perhaps, they were thinking about a boat, to get the heck off the clear-cutted island, sail away to a better life? Well now we are a global market, there is no such thing as sailing away to find other untouched land to extract resources from.

The Farmer has to do “what is best for the family”, which is to provide food on the table, while mitigated crop failure. In the absence of an equitable price provided by The Conservation Reserve Program, the farmer will ultimately have to sell out, to the highest bidder. 

Perhaps Mr. Santorum understands the importance globally of the new source of high protein Wheat. This NEW wheat will be readily shipped to feed the growing SE Asian Populations, as the multinationals will own it from seed, through processing and shipping. Meanwhile, it is the local farmer, the local taxpayer, and the local consumer that will feel the loss of wheat, right into they’re pocketbooks. Did I mention the loss of ownership and decent wage jobs?

Perhaps Mr. Santorum and his fellow supporters’ should be taught a history lesson. Might they forget why these lands were set-aside in reserve to begin with. That’s all this country needs now, another Dustbowl to accelerate the “race to the bottom” then we will know for sure..History repeats.

http://savelocaljobs.org/?p=655

Merry Christmas Cowlitz County Taxpayers’!!!

In Cowlitz County Santa Claus is not only a myth but a reality when it comes to the local court system. Given enough time and belief, The Prosecuting Attorney’s Office can Produce anything “out of the bag” at the expense of the local taxpayer. Since sheer logic or budget-sense doesn’t seem to apply,it must be a matter of principal to waste resource prosecuting misdemeanors. If it was just a matter of principal, why would anyone allow EGT to Takeover our local jobs’ in the first place?

Yet, here in Cowlitz County, Washington, 

The County is hiring additional staff to prosecute misdemeanors. The increase load is a result of local law’s extra efforts, rounding-up 250+ citizens, ILWU Supporters. 

The Longview Kelso Building & Construction Trades President, was the VERY First person arrested near the tracks in September 2011, relying on a map given out by locally elected Port Officials’.

In addition to being the LKBCTC President, our local President is also The Cowlitz Wahkiakum Central Labor Council President, serves on the CAP Board of Directors’, and is the Local Union Plumbers & Steamfitters 26, Southwest Washington Business Agent and he coaches mulitple youth sports’.

Isn’t it an expensive gamble, at the taxpayers’ expense, to take all these misdemeanors’ to jury trial?

The fines are punitive and may include community service. The arrested are primarily those locals’ already doing plenty of service, and include Sunday School Teachers.

Should a change of venue be necessary, our locally elected officials can’t even comprehend the costs that will incur.

All this, for protecting a Multinational Corporation-EGT, is at the taxpayers’ expense. The same taxpayers’ that only wanted to peacefully assemble,to keep decent wage jobs in our community for friends and neighbors.

Our Local Officials can’t seem to understand,

“It is the Local Officials’ Poor Decision-Making skills”,

They continue to run up the costs associated with protecting EGT-a Multinational Corporation. It is at The Local Taxpayer’s Expense, as the Local Taxpayer will be ultimately paying the bill.

Seems like high stakes gambling For The Taxpayer!

Read The Daily News Letter To The Editor, Follow the Link Below:

For the past few years and every year through 2018, 500,000 acres (a year) of previously untilled- land will be converted to cropland. This land was previously leased by the Federal Government through the Conservation Reserve Program, established in the early 1900′s, to postpone another Great Dust Bowl. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that contracts on 3.3 million to 6.5 million acres are scheduled to expire annually between now and 2014, according to a statement issued by U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack

Now the LEASES are up and the economy is down. The local family farmer will be forced to convert this to land to cropland, primarily wheat or sell the land to a Corporation like EGT, as the Farm subsidies are for Large Volume Exports.

The future of feeding these growing numbers will require a secure future in the Sourcing of Grain, outside the U.S. this is exactly what EGT is positioned to do. EGT has already secured three new Grain Elevators in Montana; Kintyre Flats in NE Montana,Carter and it will build Twin Tower elevators in Chester. Bunge also recently announced a new “Global Partnership to build a new River terminal in Illinios. Since Grain Elevation is not a High Profit Game, the desire for a large presence in the United States is driven by the goal of securing the future sourcing of grain.

The NEW Montana Wheat will allow companies like EGT to have the ability to complete all construction using its’ own workforce, moving them from town to town. Then they will control rail commerce directly to its’ Pacific Port in Longview, meanwhile all the local economies along the way suffer and the locals’ tax dollars continue to pay for the Multinational Corporations Tax breaks.

EGT and other Global Partneships, like Bunge, intend to control the entire process from; seed, land, elevators, processing, loading, shipping through distribution and manufacturing. These Multinational Corporation are working together to complete a plan they call (SIS) for “Strategic Integrated Systems” and this will allow construction of what these companies refer to as “the Global Value Chain”.

RESEARCH INFO

http://www.larouchepub.com/other/1995/2249_windsor_food.html

http://www.bungenorthamerica.com/news/index.shtml

http://www.progressiverailroading.com/class_is/news/EGT-to-build-BNSFserved-unit-train-loading-facility-in-Montana–27919

http://www.itochu.co.jp/en/business/food/project/02/

http://ir.stxpanocean.com/eng/spo4000/spo4000_2.asp

All About the High Stakes Wheat Cartels http://z4.invisionfree.com/The_Great_Deception/index.php?showtopic=5933