Two days later the Superior Court of Washington for Pierce County issued a temporary restraining order limiting the number of pickets to no more than 12, but allowing the workers, who are members of the United Steelworkers of America (USWA), to maintain their line.

The court order also restricts steelworkers from contact with longshoremen and states, "Defendants may not block ingress or egress from the Kaiser-operated conveyor or Kaiser-leased facilities at the Port of Tacoma."

Another hearing is scheduled for June 27 on whether to make the temporary injunction permanent.

Despite the court restrictions, the USWA won a victory in asserting their right to picket the port. About 50 steelworkers and supporters set up picket lines on Saturday, June 10, on the docks, immediately provoking a confrontation with the Port of Tacoma authorities and the Tacoma police.

Jon Youngdahl, a USWA spokesman, told the Spokesman-Review the union has a "right to be on the pier picketing that ship." Youngdahl was arrested Saturday for trespassing. Another arrest was made June 10 when cops in riot gear waded into the crowd of demonstrators and grabbed a picket.

Despite the heavy police presence, steelworkers kept the picket up initially until June 12, when it was suspended by the union while negotiations were taking place between the USWA and Kaiser. Those talks recessed until June 28 and the picketing resumed June 14.

Meanwhile, Kaiser Aluminum announced plans to shut down the three pot lines at the Tacoma smelter, laying off 281 replacement workers. Another 120 will be laid off at the Mead smelter in Spokane. The company cites rising electricity costs--and not the impact of the picket lines--as the reason.

"It's a little bit of both," said Art Hubbard, a locked-out steelworker who worked six years at the Tacoma plant. "Kaiser can't stand to lose more money. If they shut it [the pot lines] down it will cost them millions to clean it up."

John Naubert is a member of the International Association of Machinists. Chris Rayson belongs to the United Transportation Union. Scott Breen, a member of the IAM, contributed to this article.  
 
 
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