From the Journal Star in Lincoln, Nebraska:
Foreign owners among a group of Pacific Northwest grain export terminals have informed the longshore union they are at impasse, but will not lock them out of their jobs. Instead, they were implementing terms of their final contract offer on Thursday.
The terminal owners are now split, as a joint venture of Cargill and CHS, the privately held company and the cooperative familiar to Nebraskans, has split away from the foreign-owned terminals and is negotiating separately with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union.
The joint venture of Cargill and CHS Inc., which has elevators in Tacoma and Portland, has broken away from the consortium. It was not included in the letter the other owners emailed Wednesday to Leal Sundet, an ILWU coast committeeman, informing him of their decision to implement the terms of the last offer.
The terminals imposing new terms are
— Marubeni Corp., a Japanese company that owns Columbia Grain in Portland.
— Mitsui & Co., a Japanese company that owns United Grain in Vancouver, Wash.
— Louis Dreyfus Commodities, a Dutch company that owns grain elevators
in Seattle and Portland.