Union renews demands on port to revoke rail contract with troubled contractor

State agency seeks criminal child labor charges against Rotschy Inc. over gruesome 2023 trenching machine injury

Local trade unions are renewing calls for the Port of Longview to revoke a massive rail contract after a state agency announced Wednesday that it will seek criminal charges against Rotschy Inc. over a 2023 trenching machine accident that cost a 16-year old worker both his legs.

“I am ashamed that our port commission voted to use the first contractor to ever be referred by Labor & Industries for felony criminal charges. The actions that brought these charges were well-known to the commission, and yet my fellow commissioners chose to do nothing. Our community deserves more,” Port Commissioner Evan Jones said Thursday.

Jones, a union electrician, is one of three port commissioners. He was the sole “nay” vote when the port commission in January awarded a $44.7 million contract to Rotschy to develop the port’s long-planned rail expansion project.

About 125 trade union workers packed the commissioner hearing room to oppose the move, citing Rotschy’s extensive record of child labor violations.

The state Department of Labor & Industries, which regulates workplace safety, in recent years has fined Rotschy $208,000 for a host of child labor violations. Those fines include $156,000 for the LaCenter trenching machine accident. Rotschy said it has paid the penalties.

Jones and Mike Bridges, president of the Longview/Kelso Building and Construction Trades Council, said they are investigating whether the port can legally revoke Rotschy’s contract if it is found to be “not presently responsible” under federal procurement regulations.

Bridges has asked U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Washington, to engage in the matter.

Asked if he will bring Rotschy’s contract up to the port commission again, Evans said, “You better believe it.”

Port spokeswoman Ashley Helenberg said she does not expect the port to comment until it reviews L&I’s documentation about Rotschy “or until we hear if Clark County plans to pursue charges.”

Port commissioners Allann Erickson and Jeff Wilson (who also is a state senator) could not immediately be reached for comment Friday.

A person who answered the phone at Rotschy declined comment Friday morning.

Rotschy’s $44.7 million bid was the lowest of five bids the port received on the rail project. Although Rotschy had been on L&I’s ‘Severe Violators List’ for an incident in 2019, it had since been removed. The port commission had no legal ground to reject Rotschy’s low bid, commissioners and port staff said.

The rail project — the most expensive in port history — will add two new rails to the existing two-track rail corridor that links the port to the BNSF main line — bringing the total number of track sets to four . It also will prepare the railroad beds (without the rails) for the eventual addition of four more.

The project has been under development since 2014 and is considered critical to finding a new bulk cargo client for Berth 4.

Except for placing mobile office trailers and doing some survey work, Rotschy has done little work on the project so far, Helenberg said.

Rotschy’s bid was followed closely by those from Tapani Inc. of Battle Ground, at $46 million, and Scarsella Bros. Inc. of Kent, Washington, at $46.2 million. Scarsella is a union contractor; Tapani, like Rotschy, is not.

According to press accounts, L&I on Wednesday submitted 170 pages of documentation to the Clark County Prosecutors Office in support of its request for possible youth labor criminal charges.

L&I said this is its first-ever such request and is based on allegations that the company had allowed the teen worker to operate dangerous, prohibited machinery without supervision at the time he suffered his injuries.

Erik Podhora, a senior deputy prosecuting attorney with Clark County, told Cascade PBS he has reviewed the files provided by L&I. He could not offer a timeline for any charging decision.

“However, after an initial review it is apparent that we need to refer this to a law enforcement agency for follow up investigation into potential criminal liability,” Podhora wrote. “As a result, I plan to forward the materials provided to the Clark County Sheriff’s Office.”

L&I’s announcement coincided with the Legislature’s passing of House Bill 1644, which will bar companies with multiple serious safety violations from hiring teen workers. It also will require worksite inspections before the state issues work permits for minors. Gov. Bob Ferguson is scheduled to sign in Monday at a ceremony that Bridges plans to attend.

The legislation is a significant win for labor. It was instigated as a preventive measure to address the growing number of young adults in construction trades, said Heather Kurtenbach, executive director of the Washington State Building and Construction Trades Council.

Among local legislators, state Sens. Jeff Wilson of Longview and John Braun of Centralia were only Senate Republicans to vote for the bill.

In the House, Cathlamet Republican Joel McEntire cast the sole GOP vote for the bill, which was opposed Republicans Jim Walsh (Aberdeen), Ed Orcutt (Kalama) and Peter Abarno (Centralia).

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