September 30, 2011: Today’s decision against the ILWU by a Federal District Court in Tacoma, WA, was not unexpected. In this area of the law, the procedures are set up to ensure that commerce flows under all circumstances. Normal due process rights found in other areas of the law are muted. Still, the union did not even get the minimal protection that the courts are required to provide in this type of proceeding.
Leal Sundet, ILWU Coast Committeeman, said:
What the judge did today is take the NLRB’s proposed damage amount of nearly $300,000 and round it down to $250,000 without any findings of fact or rulings on the evidentiary objections. This brand of “rough justice” and imprecise decision making is exactly what the law is designed to prevent. What the court engaged in here is back-of-the-napkin guestimates. There was no attempt to distinguish events arguably connected with what the union is accused of doing on the 7th and 8th of September 2011 and those events that are unrelated to any alleged union conduct.
The damage amount of $250,000 imposed by the court includes the July 2011 purchase of law enforcement uniforms, the purchase of various forms of weaponry to arm public and private police forces, the overtime pay associated with the unnecessary overuse of law enforcement by Cowlitz County Sheriff Nelson, the reimbursement for travel and salary of EGT lawyers some of whom make over $400 an hour and fly first class, and the reimbursement of NLRB lawyers at corporate attorney hourly rates exceeding $450.
At the end day, we expect full vindication through the appellate process, including an overturning of today’s unjust award.
ILWU Coast Longshore Division news release