Feed items

Thursday’s decision by a Federal District Court in Portland validates the ILWU’s view that longshoremen are being unfairly blamed for carriers leaving the Port of Portland in recent weeks, when the real offender is Philippines-based ICTSI.
ILWU Coast Committeeman Leal Sundet said:
We respect the court and Judge Simon, and appreciate that he can see through the distortions of an employer that’s violating its own labor contract and blaming it on the men and women on the docks.
The carriers who left Portland did so after demanding that ICTSI hire longshore workers as required by their contract. When ICTSI failed to follow the contract, the carriers left and went to terminals that were in compliance.

Exhibits associated with today’s court proceeding include several heated email messages from carriers including Hanjin and “K” Line in early June that demanded that ICTSI assign the work of plugging, unplugging and monitoring refrigerated containers, or “reefers,” to longshoremen. The emails are available from the ILWU.
The Pacific Maritime Association, which represents maritime employers on the West Coast including ICTSI, has continually directed ICTSI...