On December 12, Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber announced that all work associated with maintaining refrigerated containers at the Port of Portland, Terminal 6, will be assigned to workers represented by ILWU Locals 8 and 40.
Prior to the announcement, a small portion of this work had been performed by port employees. Governor Kitzhaber’s announcement marks a step toward the resolution of one aspect of the ongoing issues that plague ICTSI, the Philippines-based global terminal operator that began its first U.S. venture in 2010 when it leased Terminal 6 from the Port of Portland.
“The men and women of the ILWU appreciate the assignment of work as required by our Master Contract with PMA member company ICTSI and the PMA member carriers such as Hanjin,” said Leal Sundet, Local 8 Longshoreman and ILWU Coast Committeeman. “But in order to normalize things at Terminal 6, it’s incumbent on ICTSI to improve labor relations and negotiate reasonably with Hanjin to secure a fair terminal use agreement.”
ICTSI inherited the Port’s Terminal Use Agreement with Hanjin when it took over operations at Terminal 6. That agreement expired a year ago, and negotiations on the terms of a new agreement stalled over ICTSI’s insistence on charging Hanjin excessive service rates and eliminating the throughput arrangements Hanjin had with the Port.
Independent of negotiations over a new terminal use agreement with Hanjin, ICTSI imported a model of labor relations at Terminal 6 that has severely hindered terminal operations. ICTSI’s labor management model is authoritarian and intimidation- based. The company’s systematic use of employer complaints, legal claims, and NLRB charges to threaten and control workers is without parallel historically among Pacific Maritime Association member companies. Worker morale at Terminal 6 has reached an all-time low.
“The members of Local 8 and Local 40 want Terminal 6 to be as productive as it can be, but that requires labor and management working together toward a common goal,” said Dane Jones, ILWU Local 40 Business Agent. “As a representative of the workers who are at the terminal everyday helping ICTSI makes its profits, I really hope that ICTSI takes to heart the initiative of the Governor and the message that it needs to find a way to improve morale with its Longshore and Clerk workforce.”