ILWU leaders today said that the county prosecutors’ office needs to stop wasting taxpayer dollars attempting to prosecute local workers for exercising their First Amendment rights during a labor dispute last summer.
On Wednesday, Cowlitz County jurors found four women “not guilty” of blocking a train, in a case arising from a demonstration on Sept. 21st. These four jury acquittals bring the total to six, a 100% vindication rate for the longshore workers and their supporters from three separate juries. In addition to the acquittals, dozens of charges have been dropped for lack of cause or evidence.
Leal Sundet, ILWU Coast Committeeman at the union’s international headquarters in San Francisco and former ILWU Local 8 president in Portland, stated, “It’s time for the prosecuting attorney to show leadership and drop the remaining charges against longshore workers and their supporters for exercising their constitutional rights during their free speech demonstrations last summer.”
Longview’s ILWU Local 21 President Dan Coffman said, “Three juries have looked at the evidence, and all three juries have found ILWU workers and supporters not guilty of what the prosecutors have accused them of doing. We hope that we can move forward and not waste any more taxpayer funds on prosecutions of people who were willing to put their bodies on the line for good jobs and our community. The state should now promote reconciliation and help the community put this dispute behind it.”
Jack Peterson, attorney for the four women acquitted yesterday, stated, “The jury’s verdict on Wednesday demonstrates in a tangible way why the United States is the best country in the world to live in. Ultimately, the community gets to judge its fellow citizens. The clear message the jury sent to the Cowlitz County Prosecutor’s Office is that, when citizens assert their constitutional rights, it does not mean they are criminals.”
ILWU Coast Longshore Division news release