'A call for a protest of EGT is not a call for a shutdown of West Coast ports and must not result in one,' wrote ILWU Pres. Bob McEllrath in a Jan. 3 letter. 'Any showing of support for Local 21 at the time that a vessel calls at the EGT facility must be measured to ensure that the West Coast ports have sufficient manpower so as not to impact cargo movement for PMA member companies.'
In a letter to union locals last week regarding the planned protest, ILWU President Bob McEllrath said that the ship, which is due in later this month though the exact date is still undetermined, is expected to be escorted in from the mouth of the Columbia River by the US Coast Guard, and then protected by multiple law enforcement agencies.
He urged that caution be taken so that events don’t spiral out of control.
“Any showing of support for Local 21 at the time that a vessel calls at the EGT facility must be measured to ensure that the West Coast ports have sufficient manpower so as not to impact cargo movement for PMA member companies,” he wrote in the Jan. 3-dated letter.
“A call for a protest of EGT is not a call for a shutdown of West Coast ports and must not result in one,” he wrote, referencing the Dec. 12 protests by the Occupy movement that impeded cargo traffic at some ports along the North American West Coast.
Occupy Longview spokesman Paul Nipper, however, has said his group’s members would actively try to prevent the ship from being loaded and has called on Occupy members from across the country to participate.
The protests would be the latest in a series in a continued labor action against EGT, which is a joint venture between Bunge Ltd, ITOCHU International and STX Pan Ocean.