ILWU International President Bob McEllrath (Robert McEllrath) turns himself into Cowlitz County officials on September 26, 2011 for charges related to a September 7 demonstration in rural Cowlitz County.Behind him is International Vice President for the International Longshoremen's Association Ken Riley of Charleston, South Carolina, who stood with McEllrath to show ILA's support.

ILWU International President Bob McEllrath turns himself into Cowlitz County officials on September 26, 2011 for charges related to a September 7 demonstration in rural Cowlitz County.Behind him is International Vice President for the International Longshoremen's Association Ken Riley of Charleston, South Carolina, who stood with McEllrath to show ILA's support for the fight for ILWU jurisdiction.

BNA’s Daily Labor Report covered International President Bob McEllrath’s surrender Monday on misdemeanor trespassing charges related to a Sept. 7 demonstration in rural Cowlitz County. They included this aspect of his surrender:

In what the union called a “show of solidarity–all machinery and equipment in West Coast ports stopped for 15 minutes” when Robert McEllrath turned himself in at about 11 a.m. at the Cowlitz County Sheriff’s office, an ILWU prepared statement said. He was cited on the two charges and released pending further court action.

“Longshore workers stood down in silence today to express their anger about Cowlitz County law enforcement’s unfair treatment of our international president,” Leal Sundet, ILWU coast committeeman, said in the Sept. 26 statement.

The move comes several days after ILWU filed a lawsuit accusing local police officials of a campaign of intimidation against the union (ILWU v. Nelson, W.D. Wash., No. 11-5767, complaint filed 9/22/11).

Text of the ILWU complaint may be accessed at http://
op.bna.com/dlrcases.nsf/r?Open=scrm-8m4snc.