Excerpts from the Portland Business Journal:
The Port of Portland Commission on Wednesday approved paying up to $4.6 million to the company that operates the Terminal 6 container yard to cover excess costs associated with an ongoing labor dispute involving longshore workers.
The decision was almost immediately criticized by the International Warehouse and Longshore Union, which described the program as subsidy payments to a profitable multi-million-dollar global organization.
“The Port is subsidizing operational costs and replacing supposed lost revenues for a private company whose net profit was $35.4 million in the first quarter of 2012,” Leal Sundet, ILWU Coast Committeeman, said in a news release. “Subsidizing a company that made over $130 million dollars in profits last year alone is irresponsible and corrupt stewardship of public assets.”