Longshoreman Labor

International Longshore and Warehouse Union sympathizers attempted to block a grain vessel from being loaded this week at an export terminal in Kalama, Wash., making this the third incident in recent weeks in an ongoing feud between the ILWU and grain companies in the Pacific Northwest.

Contract disagreements between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and grain terminals in the Pacific Northwest accelerated over the weekend as Columbia Grain in Portland became the second facility where management locked out union workers.

Dockworkers protesting the slow processing of medical claims picketed a terminal at the Port of Oakland Wednesday, one day after a similar action interrupted cargo handling at a terminal in Tacoma.

International Longshoremen’s Association employees of equipment maintenance and repair contractors in the Port of New York and New Jersey voted overwhelmingly to ratify a six-year labor contract.