Excessive law enforcement at protest in rural Cowlitz County, Washington, September 7, 2011. Brock Lile photo
Responding to union protests at the EGT grain terminal has cost the Cowlitz County Sheriff’s office $29,000 since Sept. 7 — and those costs might be added to the union’s civil contempt fine.
The NLRB has asked all police agencies who responded to the protests to report their costs from the Sept. 7 and Sept. 8 incidents. NLRB officials will then determine if the costs should be added to their proposed union fine for violating a temporary restraining order against violent protests and blocking trains. The fine also will take into account the damage estimates from Sept. 8, including spilled grain and cut brake lines on a train. The fine will be set by a federal judge next week.
Union officials criticized including the overtime costs in the proposed fine.
“This is yet another example of the NLRB promoting the interests of capital and profit over the needs of workers and the community as a whole,” Leal Sundet, ILWU coast committeeman, said in a written statement Tuesday.