Disclaimer

The articles excerpted on this site report on the state of the industry as seen by mainstream media, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the officers of the ILWU Coast Longshore Division.

Carpenters Local 156: 'We support ILWU Locals 4 and 8'

CAPTION

“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 [...]

Share

ICTSI eyes $1.6-B Melbourne port project

The Port of Melbourne Corp. (PoMC) in Australia has shortlisted four groups for the bidding that is scheduled sometime in September this year. Aside from AICL, other groups shortlisted are the group of CMA CGM, ANL Container Line and Macquarie Specialised Asset Management; Hutchison Port Holdings; and Qube Holdings. The winner that would bag [...]

Share

Veteran longshoreman dies after truck plunges into the bay

The ILWU Coast Longshore Division mourns the loss of Manuel “Manny” Stimson, age 78, who worked on the docks for five decades. From the San Jose Mercury News:

A veteran longshoreman died after his after a truck plunged into the bay near the Port of Oakland’s TraPac terminal in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, [...]

Share

Israel considers using defense troops to replace dockworkers

From an article called ”Israeli government pledges to end ports’ monopoly” in today’s Journal of Commerce:

The Israeli government is planning to issue a tender to build a privately run seaport in the coming months, pledging to end the monopolies of the two main ports of Ashdod and Haifa.

The port unions, which comprise 2,400 [...]

Share

Kwai Tsing port business suffers ‘huge’ 11pc drop from dockers’ strike

The longest strike in Hong Kong’s history caused a “huge” drop of almost 11 per cent in container volume at the Kwai Tsing Container Terminals last month.

Port operator Hongkong International Terminals – the target of the dock workers’ 40-day strike which ended after they accepted a 9.8 per cent pay rise said its operations [...]

Share

Longshoreman hit by truck at Port of Portland

The Associated Press has reported:

A Portland longshoreman sustained minor injuries after getting hit by a truck while picketing at the Port of Portland.

Jennifer Sargent, a spokeswoman for the International Longshore & Warehouse Union, says the worker is recovering at home after injuring his knee, elbow and back. She declined to release his identity.

[...]

Share

Longshoreman recovering after being struck by Marubeni-Columbia Grain customer’s semi truck at picket line

PORTLAND, OR (May 18, 2013) – A Portland longshore worker is recovering at home after being struck by a Marubeni-Columbia Grain customer who was crossing an ILWU picket line at the Port of Portland on May 16. The worker, a member of ILWU Local 92, was knocked to the ground after the semi truck’s driver [...]

Share

Beloved Longshoreman Plunges to Death in Oakland

Our condolences go out to the family, friends and colleagues of our union brother.

From NBC:

A body retrieved from a truck that went into the water off of a street in West Oakland Friday afternoon was that of a local longshoreman who had worked at the Port of Oakland for more than 50 years, [...]

Share

Dock worker rescued from cargo hold in Port of Wilmington, DE

A 23-year-old dock worker had to be rescued from the cargo hold of a ship being unloaded at the Port of Wilmington this afternoon after a 2,000-pound coil of wire rolled on top of his chest.

About 4 p.m., rescue workers from the Wilmington Fire Department and county paramedics were called to the Port of [...]

Share

Second foreign grain handler locks out longshoremen

The Northwest Labor Press reports on the lockouts at Mitsui-United Grain in Vancouver and Marubeni-Columbia Grain in Portland:

Pickets at both the Port of Portland and Port of Vancouver are hammering on how the foreign-owned companies are profiting from local taxpayer investments while ruining local union jobs that pay good wages and benefits.

A flier [...]

Share

Longshore union: NBA vote against Seattle a chance to ‘take a deep breath’

While NBA fans were disappointed after Wednesday’s decision by the league to reject a plan to move the Sacramento Kings to Seattle, not everyone in the Emerald City was that upset.

Freight industry leaders have been fighting plans to build a basketball arena in Seattle’s Sodo area. And the local longshore union has legal action [...]

Share

Coast Guard issues citation in longshore protest

The U.S. Coast Guard has cited the owner of a protest boat that violated a 200-yard safety zone at the Port of Kalama, Wash.

Protest boats have taken to the Columbia River because of a contract dispute between grain terminal operators and the International Longshore & Warehouse Union. The owners of grain terminals in Vancouver, [...]

Share

Pro-union protesters set up river picket at Port of Kalama

Nine boats with longshore union supporters tried to block a grain ship at the Port of Kalama on Tuesday morning, causing the Coast Guard to board one boat and issue warnings to all the others.

The incident is a spillover of a Vancouver dispute between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and United Grain. Protesters [...]

Share

Hong Kong port strike is over

Workers fighting for improved pay and decent working conditions at the Port of Hong Kong have voted to call off their industrial action after accepting an improved wage offer and promises of further negotiations on working conditions – as well as an assurance that there will be no retaliation against workers who participated in the [...]

Share

Australia: Workers threaten strike at coal handler

Mining giant Rio Tinto, through its subsidiary Coal & Allied, is a shareholder in PWCS.

Workers at Port Waratah Coal Services (PWCS) in Newcastle are poised to launch protected industrial action after an impasse in negotiations, the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) says.

Workers at the Kooragang Island and Carrington sites have voted on a [...]

Share