Longshoreman in Washington State upset over a contracting agreement flooded into a port, held security officers hostage and dumped the grain that is the center of the labor dispute. Six guards were held hostage by members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union after hundreds broke down the gates to the Port of Longview at 4:30 a.m. PT, damaging rail road cars and smashing the windows of the guard shack, police said. The ILWU believe they have a right to work at the grain terminal, but the company has hired a contractor that staffs laborers from another union. A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order against the ILWU on Sept. 2 after other protests got out of hand in recent weeks, Bloomberg Businessweek reports.
