NW Grain Bosses Want Concessions Similar To EGT Contract Hailed By IWLU International As "win" Contract

NW Grain Bosses Want Concessions Similar To EGT Contract Hailed By IWLU International As "win"  Contract

Q&A: Grain Shippers And Union Working On Agreement
OPB | Nov. 28, 2012 5:52 p.m. | Portland, Oregon

http://www.opb.org/news/article/qa-grain-shippers-and-union-working-on-a...

CONTRIBUTED BY:

APRIL BAER

Talks between some Northwest grain shippers and a handful of longshore unions have paused.
The two sides are trying to work through contract talks that have the potential to bottle up grain exports to Asia.
OPB's April Baer has been following the story and joins me now.
Beth Hyams: April, What's happened this afternoon?
April Baer: We've been  waiting to see if the two sides got anywhere with last-minute negotiations.
I just received a statement ten minutes ago from the Pacific Northwest Grain Handlers Association. It says the group "met this afternoon and will respond tomorrow to comments received from representatives of ILWU about the group's last, best and final offer."
And I talked about five minutes ago to Jennifer Sargent, a spokeswoman for the International Longshore and Warehouse Union locals in this dispute. She says they're not to the point of considering a strike, that they'd have to make a strike vote. They have not done that yet. It's worth noting, not every variation in work routines is a union-authorized strike. We have seen examples in which protest actions happened that were not union-approved strikes. For now, it certainly appears the two sides are still talking - at least til tomorrow.
The work of these six grain terminals has many stakeholders, from grain growers, to other marine unions that might stop work in sympathy for a lockout or strike.
The Port of Portland told me if there's a stoppage, other tenants in Terminal 5 would be asked to use a separate gate, to maintain access. That's just one example of how the six facilities are making plans for whatever may come.
Beth Hyams: Can you explain what workers and what workplaces are we talking about?
April Baer:There are nine terminals built to handle grain in the Northwest. Six of them are governed by the same agreement with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union. Two are up in the Seattle area, one's in Tacoma, one's in Vancouver, Washington, and the rest are in the North end of Portland. Now, these sites are owned by the Ports, but they're leased by companies that handle and ship grain. So that's who's involved in these negotiations. The Ports are not involved in the talks.
There are four unions that represent workers at these six terminals. They work as stevedores. Some of them operate cranes or drive trucks & loading equipment. And some of them are supervisors. The ILWU is something of a storied union, with a long history in the Ports, and some locals have not been afraid to wield the power of the strike, if they thought it necessary.
Beth Hyams: What's the significance of these grain handlers to the regional economy.
April Baer: Ports in Oregon and Washington are extremely important to grain growers in both states. But there's also a big export business here for corn and soybeans grown in the Midwest, on their way across the Pacific. And these companies move grain out to all kinds of global markets.
According to the Port of Portland, just the one grain handler sited at the Port's Terminal 5, Columbia Grain, handled over 4.7 million tons of grain in 2011. A number of other Ports in this network of six have expanded their facilities recently. That shows the current demand, and expectations for growth in grain exports.
Beth Hyams: Can you give us a sense of what the unions and the grain handlers want out of this?
April Baer: We don't have a clear picture of the bargaining points - neither side has been willing to talk about that.  
It appears the negotiations have been informed by what happened at the Port of Longview in 2011 and this year, as a different Longshore Local negotiated with Export Grain Terminal, or EGT, the operator of Longview's grain expert terminal.
A protracted negotiation gave way to EGT hiring workers from another union. At the end of the day, EGT had gained some concessions in the structure of work shifts, pension liability, and the staffing of certain control positions. 
A spokesman for the Pacific Northwest Grain Handlers Association have said that's just what the grain handling companies wanted. It may be the ILWU would like to resist similar concessions.
The Oregonian newspaper obtained a copy of an agreement the grain handlers proposed earlier this month. It suggested that, at the time, the operators wanted to be able to expand, reduce, or stop business without notice. They were asking for the right to so-called "stop-work" meetings, and some variations in who's allowed to handle control-room work.
 
 
 

McEllrath: ‘This is a win (EGT deal) for the ILWU, EGT and the Longview community’
Originally published Monday, January 23, 2012 at 3:21 PM
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2017315630_longview24m.html
The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) has reached a tentative settlement on legal issues in a bitter labor dispute with Longview grain exporter EGT.

By Hal Bernton
Seattle Times staff reporter

EGT, a major new grain exporter in Longview, and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union reached a tentative settlement Monday to resolve the legal issues in a bitter labor dispute that drew national attention.
"I asked EGT and ILWU to come together in a good-faith effort to overcome their differences," said Gov. Chris Gregoire, whose intervention helped spur negotiations. "I am confident an agreement can be reached that will satisfy both parties and allow the new grain terminal to become fully operational."
EGT Chief Executive Larry Clarke and union President Robert McEllrath, in statements released Monday, confirmed the tentative settlement. Both spoke optimistically of a final resolution, with Clarke saying he expected progress over the next several days. No details were released Monday about the settlement or how many jobs it might mean for the union.
The dispute flared over jobs at EGT's $200 million, highly mechanized grain terminal — the first built in the region in more than a quarter-century. Company officials maintain that they had no obligation to hire ILWU workers for their operation.
Union leaders, backed up by the Port of Longview, cited contract language they said requires that their members be hired.
Tensions increased last July when EGT hired a Federal Way-based contractor to staff jobs at the terminal with an Oregon-based local of the International Union of Operating Engineers.
This was viewed as a major challenge to the powerful ILWU, which has deep roots in the West Coast labor movement dating back to historic 1930s-era organizing efforts of dock workers in California, Oregon and Washington.
Last year in Longview, union members and supporters challenged EGT in a series of protests that resulted in more than 130 arrests. In September, these actions included spilling grain from 72 freight cars and breaking windows in a guard shack. Union members also engaged in work stoppages at Longview, Seattle and other ports.
A federal judge fined the ILWU more than $300,000 for its labor tactics.
As the stakes grew higher, Gregoire got involved. She and her representatives met with the union and company representatives about a dozen times. On Monday, aides described the tentative resolution as a first step that will lead to ILWU workers being employed by EGT.
"This is what we have been hoping for," said Ken O'Hollaren, executive director of the Port of Longview. "Gov. Gregoire's leadership and involvement in this matter was instrumental in the news that we are getting today."
The tentative settlement was announced as Longview braced for the arrival of the first grain ship at the EGT terminal, an event that had been expected to draw thousands of union supporters who had called for peaceful protests.
"I am happy we are making progress. Nobody wants a confrontation when they come in and load the boat," said Mike Fuqua a longshoreman in Longview.
The Occupy Movement was also organizing activists to converge on the town for a blockade of the loading operation when the grain ship arrived.
That effort had drawn criticism from union leaders, who were under court orders not to disrupt the port operations.
Lenny Fisher, a Longview member of the Occupy Movement, learned of the agreement today. "What I believe this means is that Occupy made a difference," he said.
EGT plans to export 8 million metric tons annually of wheat, soybeans and corn from the port, and ship traffic will roughly double at the Port of Longview.
In recent years, port exports have surged amid a huge spike in demand for Northwest logs in China and other Asian markets.
In 2010, the 182 members of Longview-based ILWU Local 21 earned an average of $99,931, according to information compiled by the Pacific Maritime Association. That was the highest average income of any port on the West Coast.
In an era when union ranks have been on a decades-long decline, this prosperity is a matter of considerable pride.
"These aren't Wal-Mart jobs," said Fuqua, the Local 21 longshoreman. "These are family-wage jobs with good benefits. That's what America needs."
Hal Bernton: 206-464-2581 or hbernton@seattletimes.com