Tuesday, August 26, 2014
Top Story
Port of Portland nixes deal with ILWU, putting reefer jobs back in play
Nine months ago the Port of Portland awarded two hotly contested reefer jobs at Terminal 6 to members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, and now the port has taken them back.
On Friday Port of Portland Executive Director Bill Wyatt sent a letter to Mike Stanton, president of Local 8 of the ILWU, saying the port was terminating the contract with the dockworkers due to low productivity.
"The extremely low productivity at T6 remains unacceptable and negatively impacts all of the people whose livelihood is connected with working at or providing services to T6 and those who depend on the facility to efficiently ship products worldwide," the letter said, including a bar chart tracking declines in the number of crane moves-per-hour since the jobs were given to the ILWU workers in December 2013.
"Productivity at the ICTSI facility is directly related to ICTSI's irresponsible and incompetent management. Nothing more," wrote ILWU spokesperson Jennifer Sargent in a Friday statement, referring to the terminal operated by International Container Services Oregon Inc., a subsidiary of a Philippine conglomerate. "A big part of the problem is the port's blind support of ICTSI."
The port's decision to nix the contract may reignite the fight over the jurisdiction of two jobs that involve plugging in and unplugging reefers at the port. It may continue the two-year battle over whether the reefer work should go to the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (which handled the jobs for decades) or to longshore union workers — a conflict that caused slowdowns at Terminal 6 to the extent that Hanjin Shipping was considering ending its weekly service at Portland.
A spokesperson for Gov. John Kitzhaber said he supports the port's decision to terminate its contract with the longshore union for the reefer jobs.
The ILWU said it would announce results this week of a vote by union members to accept or reject a tentative contract agreement with three grain-handling companies. If accepted, that would end a protracted dispute that has caused congestion and delays for grain shipments out of the Port of Vancouver's United Grain terminal.
Meanwhile, talks continue between the ILWU and the Pacific Maritime Association to replace a contract for workers at 29 West Coast ports that expired this summer.
For more of The Oregonian story: oregonlive.com
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