Judge Fines Longshore Union $250,000 After Members Attacked Guards, Damaged Property in Labor RevoltTACOMA, Wash. (The Blaze/AP) — A federal judge fined a Longshore union $250,000 on Friday for its tactics in a Longview labor dispute, and he warned that individual protesters could face their own penalties for future violations of his orders.
U.S. District Judge Ronald Leighton has already held the International Longshore and Warehouse Union in contempt for blocking a train and storming a grain terminal earlier this month. Authorities have said the protesters overpowered security guards, damaged railroad cars and dumped grain.
A member of the union also attacked a news crew covering the scene, grabbing their camera and telling them to “get the f*ck out of here now.”
“What’s going on out there is awful,” Leighton said. “We have to do something about it, and I’m going to do something.”
The National Labor Relations Board had asked the court to fine the union more than $290,000 to cover the damages and expenses, such as overtime for law enforcement agencies. Leighton said he rounded down to be cautious and ordered additional penalties for future violations, including $25,000 for the union, $5,000 for union officers and $2,500 for other individuals.
In a previous court hearing, Leighton likened the union members to “juvenile delinquents” when he asked the union lawyers whether fines would make their clients behave.
“I feel like I’m asking the parents of a juvenile delinquent to predict their behavior,” he said according to Tacoma’s News Tribune...
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