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Source: U-T San Diego
Source: Working In These Times
Source: AFL-CIO
Source: Isthmus
Source: Cronkite News
International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 4 charged that Wednesday’s lockout of its workers in Vancouver, Wash., by United Grain Corp. constitutes an unfair labor practice, and a union spokeswoman said the ILWU plans to file formal charges in the next few days.
The ILWU charged that rather than locking out the entire work force based on alleged sabotage by one individual, the company should have dealt with the union at the bargaining table.
The ILWU charged that by hiring outside security guards two months in advance of the lockout, United Grain was preparing for a lockout it knew would come. “This shows they have been itching to lock us out, rather than negotiate a fair contract,” said Leal Sundet, ILWU coast committeeman and co-negotiating chairman.
More at the JOC
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 28, 2013
CONTACT: Jennifer Sargent, 503-703-2933
Leaders say company has not shown evidence to back its accusations, and that security guards have been ‘shadowing and harassing our members every day’
PORTLAND, OR (February 28, 2013) – The men and women of ILWU Local 4, who have been working to reach a fair agreement with their multinational grain terminal employers for several months, were locked out of their jobs in Vancouver, Washington, in the early morning of February 27 by Japanese conglomerate Mitsui. The ILWU has represented grain handlers since the 1930’s in Vancouver, Tacoma and Seattle, Washington, and in Portland, Oregon.
Mitsui’s United Grain Corp. accused a single union worker of damaging equipment – based on hidden evidence that has never been shown to the Union or the accused – in order to justify its unlawful and aggressive lockout of its entire Local 4 represented work force. None of the other member-companies of the Pacific Northwest Grain Handlers Association have pursued this punitive and destructive path.
“Mitsui-United Grain has fabricated a story as an excuse to do what they’ve wanted to do all...
United Grain Corp. on Wednesday locked out the International Longshore and Warehouse Union from its export terminal in Vancouver, Wash., charging that a member of the Labor Relations Committee at ILWU Local 4 attempted to sabotage equipment at the facility.
The incident comes at the same time that another terminal operator, TEMCO, and the ILWU ratified a five-year interim collective bargaining agreement covering three TEMCO grain terminals in Portland, Ore., Tacoma and Kalama, Wash.
The ILWU called United Grain’s charges “unfounded,” and charged that the company used the investigator’s report to accomplish its goal of locking out the union. United Grain and the ILWU had negotiated for months on a new contract and failed to reach agreement.
More at the Journal of Commerce
The Portland Business Journal reports: ”Union officials have made a point in highlighting the fact that the other three terminal operators are extensions of foreign-owned companies. In a statement issued Wednesday, ILWU International President Robert McEllrath said the TEMCO agreement was reached ‘because American companies, farmers and workers recognize a common interest in our country’s resources and economic well being. That common interest is not reflected in the grain companies that have unilaterally implemented a contract that undermines American working standards at their competing facilities.”’ Pictured: Temco’s grain export terminal at the Port of Tacoma.
From the Portland Business Journal:
The International Longshore and Warehouse Union on Wednesday said five of its locals have ratified a new five-year labor pact with TEMCO LLC, which operates grain export terminals in Portland, Tacoma and Kalama, Wash.
The union appears to be holding out hope that it can eventually reach a new labor deal with the other three grain handlers. Its deal with TEMCO can later be modified to match any deals it reaches with the Northwest Grain Handlers Association, allowing...
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