Vol. 76/No. 38      October 22, 2012

McEllrath was convicted by a Cowlitz County jury Sept. 28 on misdemeanor charges of obstructing a train.

The union president is among some 75 members and supporters of the ILWU who faced trumped-up charges for their part in union protests last year against EGT Development’s refusal to employ ILWU members at its grain terminal here.

“I want to thank everyone for their support,” McEllrath told the crowd. “This is about the union and we must stick together.”

The ILWU and its supporters conducted protests, held rallies and maintained 24-hour picket lines over an eight-month period before EGT agreed in February 2012 to hire members of the ILWU.

“What’s happening in this country against the middle class is wrong, and I have no regrets,” McEllrath said at his sentencing.

McEllrath was first acquitted last June as a result of a hung jury. But the Cowlitz County prosecutor’s office decided to retry the case.

“Everyone has put this behind us except the Cowlitz County prosecutor’s office,” Dan Coffman, president of ILWU Local 21 in Longview, told the Militant in a phone interview. This is the price that working people pay for fighting for their rights.”

In addition to McEllrath, three other union members were sentenced to jail time. Union member William “Sonny” Halliday, is currently serving a 120-day jail sentence. Members Ronald Stavis and Byron Jacobs served jail sentences earlier this year.

Supporters of the Militant were distributing the newspaper at the hiring hall of ILWU Local 19 in Seattle when word of the conviction came down. Longshore workers said their fellow ILWU members from San Diego to Alaska had walked off the job from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. earlier that evening.

Coffman also talked to the Militant about ongoing contract negotiations between the union and grain companies along the West Coast. “They want more concessions, more management rights and the elimination of jobs. The grain companies are making huge profits, including subsidies from the U.S. government. This is part of the corporate greed that is occurring all around the country.”
 
 
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