A judge has ordered that no more than 19 longshoremen at a time can picket the State Ports Authority to protest the use of non-union labor by Danish shipping line Nordana. S.C. Attorney General Charlie Condon had requested a hearing Wednesday seeking to limit picketers to four. But the hearing never happened because lawyers for the International Longshoremen’s Association and Condon’s office hammered out an agreement, then asked Circuit Judge Daniel Martin to enforce it with a 180-day injunction. Martin said “unlawful acts” occurred during an ILA protest last week and that “irreparable harm” could result if the number of picketers was not limited. Picketers cannot block SPA entrances, assemble in SPA employee parking lots, or intimidate workers with violence, Martin ordered. But he said nothing prevents 19 people from staging peaceful protests. The next Nordana ship is scheduled to arrive in port Sunday to be unloaded by non-union workers. Union lawyer Armand Derfner said he was confident there would be no repeat of last week’s violence.
Early last Thursday, hundreds of union dock workers stormed police, some swinging clubs, throwing rocks and tossing large wooden railroad ties at officers wearing riot gear. Ten people were hospitalized with minor injuries, and eight have been charged with rioting, instigating a riot and trespassing. Martin’s order was issued against ILA Local 1422 and President Kenneth Riley; ILA Local 1771 Clerks and Checkers and President John M. Alvanos; and anyone under their control.
