Lock-Out Of ILWU Members In Vancouver Enters Seventh Day As Contract Signed With One Terminal Operation Signed

Lock-Out Of ILWU Members In Vancouver Enters Seventh Day As Contract Signed With One Terminal Operation Signed 
article from MMP newsletter

Grain terminal operator Mitsui-United Grain last week locked out 44

members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) who work
in the Port of Vancouver. The lock-out began just days after the union
ratified a contract with a competing U.S.-owned grain terminal operator,
TEMCO LLC.

In a statement issued last Wednesday, ILWU International President Robert

McEllrath said the five-year agreement with TEMCO had been reached "because
American companies, farmers and workers recognize a common interest in our
country's resources and economic wellbeing."

The labor dispute is ongoing with foreign-owned terminal operators

Mitsui-United Grain, Columbia Grain and Louis Dreyfus Commodities, but
Mitsui is the only one of the three to have locked out its workers. The
company has motivated the lock-out with the allegation that one worker
sabotaged equipment, a claim the ILWU denies.

The union says the lockout is in violation of U.S. labor law and that the

company has not presented any evidence to support its accusation of
sabotage. "Mitsui-United Grain has fabricated a story as an excuse to do
what they've wanted to do all along, which is to lock workers out instead of
reaching a fair agreement with them," the ILWU said in a statement.

"This lockout has been part of Mitsui's plan from the beginning of

negotiations," said ILWU Coast Committeeman and Co-Negotiating Chairman Leal
Sundet. "For the past two months Mitsui's hired security guards have been
shadowing and harassing our members every day at the United Grain elevator.
This shows they've been itching to lock us all out rather than negotiate a
fair contract like their U.S.-based competitors."

The TEMCO agreement was ratified by ILWU Locals 4, 8, 19, 21 and 23 in the

days preceding the Mitsui-United Grain lock-out. The lock-out came after the
multinational grain corporations, including Mitsui-United Grain, gave ILWU
workers a final offer that demanded deep concessions, even though the
companies had been successful under the previous labor agreement and despite
the fact that an impasse had not been reached in contract negotiations.

In December, ILWU members voted by a 93.8 percent margin to reject the

employers' concessionary proposal and the union called for a return to the
bargaining table. Most of the employers implemented the concessionary
proposal in late December. Only TEMCO, a joint venture of Minnesota-based
Cargill and CHS, continued talks with the ILWU.

Last year, MM&P joined forces with the ILWU and four other unions to form an umbrella labor group, the Maritime Labor Alliance (MLA), to protect the

jurisdictional rights of union members. Besides the ILWU and MM&P, the MLA
includes the American Radio Association (ARA), the Inlandboatmen's Union
(IBU), the International Longshoremen's Union (ILA) and the Marine
Engineers' Beneficial Association (MEBA).

LOCK-OUT OF ILWU MEMBERS IN VANCOUVER ENTERS SEVENTH DAY AS CONTRACT WITH

ONE TERMINAL OPERATOR IS SIGNED

Grain terminal operator Mitsui-United Grain last week locked out 44

members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) who work
in the Port of Vancouver. The lock-out began just days after the union
ratified a contract with a competing U.S.-owned grain terminal operator,
TEMCO LLC.

In a statement issued last Wednesday, ILWU International President Robert

McEllrath said the five-year agreement with TEMCO had been reached "because
American companies, farmers and workers recognize a common interest in our
country's resources and economic wellbeing."

The labor dispute is ongoing with foreign-owned terminal operators

Mitsui-United Grain, Columbia Grain and Louis Dreyfus Commodities, but
Mitsui is the only one of the three to have locked out its workers. The
company has motivated the lock-out with the allegation that one worker
sabotaged equipment, a claim the ILWU denies.

The union says the lockout is in violation of U.S. labor law and that the

company has not presented any evidence to support its accusation of
sabotage. "Mitsui-United Grain has fabricated a story as an excuse to do
what they've wanted to do all along, which is to lock workers out instead of
reaching a fair agreement with them," the ILWU said in a statement.

"This lockout has been part of Mitsui's plan from the beginning of

negotiations," said ILWU Coast Committeeman and Co-Negotiating Chairman Leal
Sundet. "For the past two months Mitsui's hired security guards have been
shadowing and harassing our members every day at the United Grain elevator.
This shows they've been itching to lock us all out rather than negotiate a
fair contract like their U.S.-based competitors."

The TEMCO agreement was ratified by ILWU Locals 4, 8, 19, 21 and 23 in the

days preceding the Mitsui-United Grain lock-out. The lock-out came after the
multinational grain corporations, including Mitsui-United Grain, gave ILWU
workers a final offer that demanded deep concessions, even though the
companies had been successful under the previous labor agreement and despite
the fact that an impasse had not been reached in contract negotiations.

In December, ILWU members voted by a 93.8 percent margin to reject the

employers' concessionary proposal and the union called for a return to the
bargaining table. Most of the employers implemented the concessionary
proposal in late December. Only TEMCO, a joint venture of Minnesota-based
Cargill and CHS, continued talks with the ILWU.

Last year, MM&P joined forces with the ILWU and four other unions to form

an umbrella labor group, the Maritime Labor Alliance (MLA), to protect the
jurisdictional rights of union members. Besides the ILWU and MM&P, the MLA
includes the American Radio Association (ARA), the Inlandboatmen's Union
(IBU), the International Longshoremen's Union (ILA) and the Marine
Engineers' Beneficial Association (MEBA).