Carpenters Local 156: ‘We support ILWU Locals 4 and 8’

“Portland is a union town, and PICKET LINES MEAN DO NOT CROSS.”

This is the message delivered in a resolution passed by members of Carpenters Local 156 at their May 11 meeting. The resolution pledges support for ILWU Local 8 at Marubeni-Columbia Grain in Portland, and for ILWU Local 4 at Mitsui-United Grain in Vancouver. Both longshore locals have been locked out by massive Japanese corporations during contract negotiations after decades of making the companies profitable.

This isn’t the first time Carpenters Local 156 has stepped up for Longshore workers.

In January 2012, Local 156 wrote an impassioned and thoughtful letter to ILWU Local 21 during the ILWU fight for a first contract at EGT, taking a principled stand in solidarity with longshore workers — even though they were longtime allies with fellow building trades union Operating Engineers Local 701, which was scabbing at EGT at the time.

Read the Carpenters resolution here, and check out our ‘Grain and Greed in the Northwest’ article for background on why this fight is so important.