ILWU Longshoremen plan to strike at Port of Portland terminals Nov. 25

ILWU Longshoremen plan to strike at Port of Portland terminals Nov. 25

By Richard Read

The Oregonian, Nov 17, 2012

http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2012/11/longshoremen_plan_to_strike_at.html

A reach stacker driven by a longshoreman moves a container at the Port of Portland's Terminal 6, one of the terminals where union members plan to strike starting Nov. 25

 
Port of Portland officials are bracing for a strike by longshore workers starting Nov. 25 that would tie up millions of dollars worth of freight at three terminals. 

Representatives of the Port and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union say the strike could still be averted. But Port officials believe cargo ships may begin bypassing Portland because of the uncertainty created by the failure of last-ditch contract talks Friday. 

Separately, owners of Northwest terminals handling a quarter of the nation's grain exports said Friday they'd presented a final offer to the longshore union. Failure of those talks could lead to a strike or lockout at six grain terminals in Portland, Vancouver and the Puget Sound. 

The simultaneous actions are the most extreme developments in months of labor turmoil at the Port, where yet another dispute involving the same union led ships to bypass Portland last summer, clogging cargo and slowing Oregon's economy. Closure of the three Port terminals, let alone a crisis at the grain elevators, would wreak far greater economic havoc and could cause container shipping lines to pull out for good. 

Only 25 security officers in union Local 28 work at the Port of Portland terminals that are headed for a strike. But their affiliation with the powerful West Coast longshore union magnifies the potential effects, as fellow members who handle cargo reserve the right not to cross the officers' picket lines. 

"We are scheduled to strike in nine days and have no more meetings scheduled at this time," said Local 28 steward David Vale, in an email Friday. 

The strike plan sets the stage for a sort of perfect storm of labor disruptions on Portland's waterfront. 

More
Continuing coverage of the contract negotiations between longshoremen and Northwest grain terminal operators.
Coincidental breakdown of the security-officer talks and the grain negotiations could close a total of seven Portland-area terminals, although the grain-elevator owners plan to hire substitute workers -- or scabs, in union parlance. In addition, last summer's separate container-terminal dispute is boiling over in the courtroom, as a federal judge ponders whether to find the union in contempt and stop it from allegedly coercing shipping lines. 

Port of Portland managers won't say whether they would bring in workers to replace striking security guards and their fellow longshore union members at terminals 2, 4 and 6. But Port officials are about to contact shipping lines with vessels heading toward Portland and warn them of the problems. 

"We'll explain the current situation and where we are in the negotiations and what the issue is about," said Dan Pippenger, Port general manager of marine operations. "Ultimately those are the shipping lines' decisions. We certainly don't tell them which way to go." 

Given the high stakes, both sides will face pressure from political leaders and others to return to the bargaining table. But for now,Gov. John Kitzhaber won't try to intervene, said a spokesman, Tim Raphael. 

"He has not ruled out intervening," Raphael said, "but he has confidence in the Port to come to agreement with the union." 

Blaise Lamphier, Port labor relations manager, said negotiators for the Port and the security officers agreed Friday on 41 of 44 outstanding contract issues. But after 17 months of talks, they remain at loggerheads on the toughest issue: a job guarantee sought by members of Local 28, who want the same protection they say the Port has already included in the lease agreement with ICTSI Oregon Inc., the company that operates Terminal 6. 

"We don't want to repeat that same mistake," Pippenger said. "It's the crux of the issue at T-6 with the ILWU and the IBEW," he said, referring to the dispute between the longshore union and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers that is mired in federal litigation. 

More
Continuing coverage of a labor dispute at the Port of Portland between the longshore union and an electricians union that has backed up traffic and diverted shipments.
In that case, the longshore union claims the equivalent of two jobs held by electricians who plug, unplug and monitor refrigerated containers known as reefers. The Port reserved that work decades ago for the electricians, Pippenger said, and officials aren't about to lock into other job guarantees that could constrict future operations. 

Longshore union leaders maintain their West Coast labor contract trumps the lease agreement, giving their members the container work. But the National Labor Relations Board ruled against them. NLRB lawyers aim to block claims surpassing $700,000 that the union is filing against shipping lines for lost wages each time electricians service the reefers. 

Meanwhile concerning the grain talks, a spokesman for the terminal owners said that their organization, thePacific Northwest Grain Handlers Association, presented its "last, best and final offer" Friday. 

"Despite the work of the federal mediators, discussions on key issues have failed to produce an agreement," spokesman Pat McCormick said in an emailed statement. 

Those talks began in August and continued past Sept. 30, when the contract expired. Federal mediation began Oct. 29. Terminal operators want the union to make concessions similar to those longshoremen made this year in a contract with a competing company in Longview, Wash., after protests and violence there. 

Leal Sundet, a coast committeeman for the San Francisco-based longshore union, said Friday in an emailed statement that negotiators would show the grain industry proposal to union members before commenting on it. 

"In light of a low-yielding harvest and corresponding high bushel prices," Sundet wrote, "the profitable multinational grain merchants are using the circumstances to undermine a mature 80-year contract with longshoremen that's made the Northwest one of the most productive grain export regions in the world." 
 

Visit my website www.michaelmunk.com