A union lock out at a big grain export terminal brought all ship loading and unloading to a halt at the Port of Vancouver, Washington Wednesday. It's one of several developments in a long-running labor dispute involving longshore workers and grain handlers.
United Grain Corporation says its lock-out of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union was spurred by repeated incidents of machinery sabotage. It blamed two specific instances on a union negotiator. But a longshore union spokeswoman accuses the company of "fabricating" the story as an excuse to bring in non-union replacement workers.
The picket line at the grain terminal was peaceful Wednesday, but there was fallout elsewhere. A Port of Vancouver spokeswoman says longshore workers assigned to unload a nearby car carrier full of Subarus walked off in sympathy.
Meanwhile, the longshore union reached a tentative five-year labor pact covering three other grain export terminals. Those are located in Tacoma, Kalama and Portland and are operated by a joint venture called Temco. Neither side provided details of the new contract.
The settlement with Temco means the majority of Northwest grain export terminals now have up-to-date labor agreements. Together, the nine unionized terminals on the Columbia River and Puget Sound handle nearly half of the nation's wheat exports.
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Northwest terminals covered by new or existing contracts:
TEMCO - Tacoma, WA
TEMCO - Kalama, WA
TEMCO - Portland
EGT - Longview, WA
Kalama Export Co. - Kalama, WA
Terminals still involved in standoff:
Seattle (Louis Dreyfus Commodities) -- offline due to construction on improvements
Vancouver, WA (United Grain Corp.)
Portland (Columbia Grain Inc.)
Portland (Louis Dreyfus Commodities) -- offline for improvements