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Judge rejects Port of Portland injunction request

A judge Wednesday rejected the Port of Portland’s request for an emergency injunction that would block a strike by marine terminal security guards.
The security guards represented by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union plan to go on strike Sunday because of failed contract negotiations. It’s assumed that the longshoremen who load and unload ships will refuse to cross the picket lines, effectively shutting down three terminals.
In seeking the injunction, port lawyers contended that a strike would cause irreparable harm to the regional economy. Their petition seeking relief noted that in 2011 about 18,000 jobs in the Portland metropolitan area were supported by marine cargo activity in Portland harbor.
The lawyers, however, failed to persuade Multnomah County Judge John Wittmayer that a disaster is imminent, or there is a threat to the public’s health and safety.
Talks with a state government mediator are planned for Saturday in hope of preventing the strike.
Excerpts from the Associated Press

Judge declines to block longshore-backed strike Sunday at Port of Portland

A Multnomah County judge declined Wednesday to block a strike that the Port of Portland claims will cause a catastrophic economic disaster.
Circuit Judge John Wittmayer rejected an emergency petition by the Port, meaning that security officers remain on track for a strike starting Sunday that’s expected to shut three terminals as longshore workers honor the picket lines.
In Multnomah County court Wednesday, Wittmayer said the Port failed to prove the strike would constitute a danger to public safety and welfare. Even if it had, the judge said, he lacked legal authority to issue an injunction.
Craig Merrilees, a spokesman for the International Longshore and Warehouse Union in San Francisco, said Judge Wittmayer clearly wasn’t impressed by the Port’s arguments. “This should put the ball back in the Port’s court to get back to the negotiations and try to resolve this,” Merrilees said.
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