LONGVIEW, Wash. (AP) — Police in Washington say hundreds of Longshoremen stormed the Port of Longview early Thursday, overpowered security guards and damaged railroad cars and dumped grain that is the center of a labor dispute.
Longview Police Chief Jim Duscha (DOO’-shuh) says six guards were held hostage for a couple of hours after 500 or more Longshoremen broke down gates about 4:30 a.m. and smashed windows in the guard shack.
He says no one was hurt and nobody has been arrested. Most of the protesters have returned to their union hall.
Duscha says brake lines were cut on a train and grain was spilled from cars.
The union believes it has the right to work at the facility, but the company has hired a contractor that’s staffing a workforce of other union laborers.
