From the United Kingdom comes this report in the Handy Shipping Guide:
The longstanding dispute between the longshoremen who work in the Port of Portland and employers simmers on, and the latest development will doubtless engender an ‘I told you so’ from the dock workers who are employed at the ICTSI Oregon container shipping terminal based within the West Coast port. For more than two years the International Longshore & Warehouse Union (ILWU) has stood accused by the operator of illegally slowing down work whilst, for its part, the union has repeatedly claimed that Health and Safety measures are not as they should be.
Now the Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Administration has fined the company, which took over the running of Terminal 6 in 2010, a total of $18,360 for breaches of safety which were said to have been uncovered during a routine inspection at the North Portland site.
The offences are grist to the workers mill, as internationally the employer is already under attack after accusations of serious wrongdoing at its Honduran operation where the father of local union boss Victor Crespo was murdered in January, Crespo himself having fled the country three months previously after assaults and death threats.