TWICE in 10 weeks, the National Labour Relations Board (NLRB) has affirmed an administrative law judge's ruling that the International Longshore and Warehouse Union violated federal law by engaging in coercive activity against its employer.
Federal labour board: Portland dockers guilty of serious legal offencesTWICE in 10 weeks, the National Labour Relations Board (NLRB) has affirmed an administrative law judge's ruling that the International Longshore and Warehouse Union violated federal law by engaging in coercive activity against its employer.
The NLRB concluded that, between September 2012 and June 2013, ILWU members (Local 8) worked in a deliberately slow manner and otherwise interfered with productivity at Terminal 6 and that the union was responsible for this illegal conduct.
Elvis Ganda, CEO of Manila-owned terminal operator ICTSI Oregon, said "the importance of this ruling should not be underestimated. Once again, the NLRB has found that the ILWU's slowdowns and other efforts to interfere with production at Terminal 6 were illegal".
Mr Ganda said it is time for the ILWU to accept the validity of the NLRB's decisions and to work in a constructive manner with both ICTSI Oregon and the Port of Portland to get Terminal 6 back to full productivity, which is critical to our region‘s economy."
The dispute has cost Portland the loss of Hanjin Shipping, which handled 78 per cent of the port's box trade, and which warned all it would abandon the port if productivity did not return to historical levels.
Hapag-Lloyd and Westwood Shipping continue to call in Portland, but Mr Ganda said crane productivity on those vessels has not improved.
Productivity first fell in 2012 when the ILWU claimed jurisdiction over the reefer work, which had traditionally belonged to the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
ICTSI said its contract with the port authority required the use of IBEW labour for work that amounted to two jobs. The ILWU said that when ICTSI took over operation of Terminal 6 three years ago, that work should go to the ILWU because ICTSI is a member of the Pacific Maritime Association, which negotiates and administers the coastwide waterfront contract.