For those, in an era of waning union influence, the West Coast longshore union has flexed its muscle. The result has crippled Northwest international commerce, scared ships away from Portland and knocked a hole in the recovering regional economy. The International Longshore and Warehouse Union's bitter dispute with another union and the container terminal operator leaves Oregon's governor, U.S. senators, business leaders and other organized labor on the sidelines, issuing occasional indignant pronouncements. But that's not the whole story. And yet, the longshoremen's fight is about far more than two jobs. The West Coast's 21,000 longshore union members are threatened by automation. They appear prepared to use every tool in their considerable arsenal to protect their turf and to acquire additional maintenance and repair jobs that can't be automated away. The immediate squabble at Terminal 6, the Port of Portland's international container yard, concerns the equivalent of two positions plugging, unplugging and monitoring refrigerated containers, or reefers. Longshoremen muscled electricians off the jobs in June, according to ICTSI Oregon Inc. , a subsidiary of a Philippines-based company that began operating the cargo hub last year. Longshoremen say their West Coast collective bargaining agreement with the Pacific Maritime Association entitles them to the reefer work. Port officials say the work belongs to the electricians, as it has for 38 years, under ICTSI's lease terms. Pending a legal resolution, the Port and ICTSI have agreed to let the longshoremen keep manning the plugs they commandeered. Why would longshoremen care so much about