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Li Ka-shing, the billionaire behind Hongkong International Terminals (HIT), controls more than 70 percent of Hong Kong’s port container traffic and oversees a vast transnational network of enterprises including the oil and gas giant Husky.
Arrayed against this financial titan often referred to as “Superman” are dockworkers exhausted by 12-hours shifts lacking even toilet breaks, surviving in one of the world’s most expensive cities on wages that haven’t risen in 15 years, and now waging a labor battle that observers are calling pivotal.
The confrontation appears to have tapped a vein of indignation against the “greed economy” and its glaring inequalities, bringing the workers broad public support.
More at Labor Notes
From the Columbian:
The action against members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union follows a lockout already under way at the Port of Vancouver by United Grain. The number of workers impacted by the lockout was not available.
Columbia Grain issued a statement early Saturday accusing workers of engaging in what it called “inside game tactics” – including slowdowns, work-to-rule, and demands for repeated inspections of the same equipment – “all designed to negatively impact Columbia Grain’s operations.”
Bruce Holte, president of ILWU Local 8, said Columbia hired replacement workers last fall, when talks were in early stages, showing that the company never intended to reach agreement.
“Unfortunately, Marubeni-Columbia Grain has done what it’s wanted to do all along, and locked out local workers who have made this company profitable for decades,” said Holte, who is also a Port of Portland commissioner. “Rather than reach a fair agreement, the company has hired an out-of-state strikebreaking firm, attorneys and a publicist to make allegations against local workers who simply want to do our jobs and support our community.”
More in the...
Like Mitsui-owned United Grain in Vancouver, Marubeni-owned Columbia Grain profits from America’s farms, roads, railroads and public ports
PORTLAND, OR (May 4, 2013) – Washington and Oregon-based longshore workers who have exported grain from Portland since the 1930’s were locked out this morning by the current owner of the facility at Terminal 5, Japan-based Marubeni, which operates under the name Columbia Grain.
“Unfortunately, Marubeni-Columbia Grain has done what it’s wanted to do all along, and locked out local workers who have made this company profitable for decades,” said Bruce Holte, President of ILWU Local 8 who also serves as a Port of Portland Commissioner. “Rather than reach a fair agreement, the company has hired an out-of-state strikebreaking firm, attorneys and a publicist to make allegations against local workers who simply want to do our jobs and support our community.”
Holte said the company hired replacement workers last fall, while negotiations were still in the early stages, showing that the company never intended to reach an agreement.
“Northwest taxpayers invest in our roads and public ports to create good jobs, and here’s a...
The Northern Sea Route along Russia’s north coast is projected to be more passable than the Northwest Passage, located above Alaska and Canada, in the short term. But as the decades wear on, both may be feasible for more months out of the year, with a trans-polar route in international waters possibly coming into play for the largest of ice-hardened ships.
As Alaska continues to struggle with jumpstarting construction on a massive natural gas pipeline project, Russia is marching ahead with plans to tap its own Arctic gas reserves.
More in the Alaska Dispatch
Source: The Wall Street Journal
Source: Montana Standard
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