Union proud: Local 8 nightside members returned to work at Portland’s Marubeni/Columbia Grain terminal in August after beating a 13-month lockout. Pictured L-R are: Charlie Prom, Frank Terwlliger, Gary Sykes, Dick Widdle, Nick Tufford, Matt Douglas, Jarod Hanson, Don Coddington, Mick Walker, Mike Sexton, Frank Elliot and Daryl Hansen. Photo by Kenny Oviatt
ILWU members working at Pacific Northwest grain terminals overwhelmingly voted in favor of ratifying a new contract in late August, ending an 18-month lockout imposed by Mitsui/United Grain in Vancouver, WA and a 15-month lockout by Marubeni/Columbia Grain in Portland.
Strong “yes” vote
The tentative agreement was reached just before midnight on August 11, followed by a ratification vote that yielded an 88.4% overall “yes” vote from members of Local 8 in Portland who voted 260 to 109 (70%) in favor; Local 4 members in Vancouver who voted 166 to13 (93%) in favor; Local 21 members in Longview who voted 142 to17 (89%) in favor; Local 19 members in Seattle who voted 498 to 38 (93%) in favor; and Local 23 members in Tacoma who voted 409 to 16 (96%) in favor. The total number of “yes” votes totaled 1,475 with “no” votes totaling 193.
The new pact with the Pacific Northwest Grain Handlers Association covers Louis Dreyfus Commodities, United Grain and Columbia Grain until May 31, 2018. The same agreement was also signed by TEMCO, a large grain company that broke ranks with the Northwest Gain Handlers Association early in the dispute to sign a provisional ILWU agreement covering operations in Portland, Tacoma and Kalama.
Key contract provisions
The new contract provides annual wage increases with continuation of 100% employer contributions to the ILWU/PMA pension, health & welfare, vacation and holiday plans. The new agreement parallels prior ILWU Grain agreements which permit staffing to be extended up to 12 hours with overtime pay after 8 hours. The agreement affirms ILWU jurisdiction in the overall control room, but does allow management the option to operate the console. And the new agreement does not require the use of a “Supercargo” Clerk position when vessels are loaded. Both the overtime and control room policies have been in effect at Peavey Grain since 1990.
The grain companies are not members of the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) and have never had a formal bargaining relationship with the Clerks. The “Supercargo” was historically employed by a PMA member stevedore who contracted to load the grain vessels. Under the new contract, the grain companies will stevedore the vessel themselves. ILWU Local 40 has filed a lawsuit against Columbia Grain claiming that their in-house and PMA stevedore, Willamette Grain, was for all intents and purposes, Columbia Grain, and therefore covered by the Clerks and Longshore Contract Documents. To that end, provisions in the Grain Agreement were reached that will require “Supercargos” to be added to the shipboard manning at Columbia Grain if Local 40 prevails in their lawsuit.
Lengthy struggle
Negotiations for the new agreement began in August of 2012 and eventually involved more than 70 sessions before the settlement was reached. The lockouts by Columbia Grain and United Grain triggered round-the-clock picket lines that were staffed primarily by members from Locals 8 and 4, with important support from other locals and pensioners who pitched-in to help.
“We put together a plan that had everyone doing their share on a rotating basis,” explained Local 4’s Cager Clabaugh. “There were plenty of days when it was cold, dark, wet and a little miserable, but everyone stuck together and did what needed to be done.”
Pickets at home and beyond
Besides picketing in front of the plant gates, ILWU members followed grain shipments up the Columbia and Snake Rivers – where barges of grain were heading to locked-out terminals. “We had volunteers who camped-out along the river with roving picket lines that could spring-up on a moment’s notice,” said Local 4’s Brad Clark. Teams also traveled to Eastern Washington State and the Midwest to meet with farmers and explain the lockout’s impact on ILWU families downriver.
Members of the Inlandboatmen’s Union, the ILWU’s Marine Division, and the Masters, Mates & Pilots union (MMP) also did what they could to help, but their efforts were limited by a tangle of labor laws designed to impede union-to-union solidarity.
“IBU members refused to work scab cargo when we could,” said IBU President Alan Cote. He noted that the grain companies tried to create their own non-union tug and barge operations when faced with IBU resistance, but the employer strategy produced only mixed results and a few spectacular crashes.
Solidarity near and far
ILWU locals up and down the coast came to support the picket lines, including from Hawaii and Canada. Repeated trips were made by members in Southern California, from Locals 13, 63 and 94, who sent numerous caravans to Portland and Vancouver. Solidarity visits were also organized by Locals 10, 63 and 91 in the Bay Area, along with many locals in the Pacific Northwest contributing volunteers to the effort.
“In the end, we stuck together and stayed strong – but it took everyone’s help to pull it off,” said Local 8 President Mike Stanton, “and for that we thank all the officers and members of the ILWU.”