BY LIEFF GUTTHIUDASCHMITT AND RICHARD DOLPH
TACOMA, Washington - Some 150 striking Steelworkers, their families, and supporters from the International Association of Machinists (IAM), United Transportation Union, and other unions rallied at Terminal 7 of the Port of Tacoma at 5:00 p.m. October 11. They were protesting the unloading of alumina ore from a ship. This ore is the basic raw material necessary for the production of smelted aluminum at Kaiser Aluminum's struck plants in Tacoma and Spokane.

This is the first ore ship to arrive since September 30, when the strike by members of the United Steelworkers of America (USWA) began. Pickets circled around the crane chanting, "Don't unload the ship!" and "Don't cross our line!" With the noisy protest under way, the crane operator felt he could not unload the ship safely and called for an arbitrator to rule on the matter. The protest continued as hours went by waiting for the arbitrator to arrive.

Two managers of the Port spoke to union officials at 9:00 p.m. after the arbitration meeting. Union forces regrouped and decided to end the protest in order to avoid a court injunction against them. The ship had been in port about three days, with only eight hours' work performed. At that rate it would take 30 days to unload the ship, at great cost to the company, compared to the usual 10 days or less.

The International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union Local 23 in Tacoma voted to host a picket line barbecue and rally for the USWA strikers every Monday from noon to 2:00 p.m. until the strike is settled.

John Walston, chairman of the strike committee and vice president of USWA Local 7945, said he was not surprised by the support from the longshore workers because Kaiser has also mistreated longshoremen and accused them of working too slowly while unloading their ships. In fact, a conflict developed between Kaiser and the Longshoremen's union just prior to the rally, when two Kaiser supervisors started to perform work covered under the Longshoremen's contract.

Lieff Gutthiudaschmitt is a member of IA M Lodge 79. Richard Dolph is a striking member of USWA Local 7945.  
 
 
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