I would rather close the facility than cave into this kind of extortion.
Union longshoremen rally at EGT Development offices in Portland
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PORTLAND — More than 1,000 union longshoremen and supporters rallied outside the headquarters of grain company EGT Development Friday afternoon, demanding the company hire union labor to operate the grain terminal it is building at the Port of Longview.
The protesters traveled from as far away as Los Angeles to support Longview-based International Longshore and Warehouse local 21, which hopes to staff the $200 million grain elevator when it goes online this fall.
"We have been left out of the loop. It's total union solidarity to stop corporate greed," said Dan Coffman, president of local 21.
EGT is owned by St. Louis-based Bunge North America, Japan-based Itochu Corp. and Korean shipper Pan Ocean STX. The company and ILWU negotiators have not met for two months, Coffman said.
The stakes in this showdown are huge for organized labor. EGT is challenging one of the most entrenched and powerful unions on the West Coast. All major ports in the region operate on union labor.
The EGT elevator would be the first built on the West Coast in the last quarter century. The terminal is expected to employ about 50 workers.
Since EGT signed a lease with the Port of Longview in June 2009, port officials have maintained that union longshoremen must work the terminal under terms with the port's contract with Local 21.
"Needless to say, this is a matter of serious concern to the port," port Director Ken O'Hollaren wrote to EGT President and CEO Larry Clarke in December.
More:
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The protesters traveled from as far away as Los Angeles to support Longview-based International Longshore and Warehouse local 21, which hopes to staff the $200 million grain elevator when it goes online this fall.
"We have been left out of the loop. It's total union solidarity to stop corporate greed," said Dan Coffman, president of local 21.
EGT is owned by St. Louis-based Bunge North America, Japan-based Itochu Corp. and Korean shipper Pan Ocean STX. The company and ILWU negotiators have not met for two months, Coffman said.
The stakes in this showdown are huge for organized labor. EGT is challenging one of the most entrenched and powerful unions on the West Coast. All major ports in the region operate on union labor.
The EGT elevator would be the first built on the West Coast in the last quarter century. The terminal is expected to employ about 50 workers.
Since EGT signed a lease with the Port of Longview in June 2009, port officials have maintained that union longshoremen must work the terminal under terms with the port's contract with Local 21.
"Needless to say, this is a matter of serious concern to the port," port Director Ken O'Hollaren wrote to EGT President and CEO Larry Clarke in December.
More:
.
Good for EGT.
ReplyDeleteILWU, Up Yours!