Excerpts from the Associated Press, as published at 7 PM on Nov. 28:
Pacific Northwest grain shippers say there will be no immediate lockout at a half-dozen terminals along the Columbia River and on Puget Sound.
The owners had given the International Longshore and Warehouse Union until midnight Wednesday to accept what they describe as their “last, best and final” offer. But Pat McCormick, a spokesman for the owners, said there would be no midnight lockout. Instead, the owners will respond Thursday to comments received from ILWU representatives about the offer.
The union has said it hopes the grain industry will avoid “the aggressive option of a disruptive lockout” and return to the negotiating table. Salary and benefits have not been the holdup during talks. Rather, the owners want to implement workplace rules they consider more advantageous.
“We obviously do not want the profitable grain companies to gamble with our lives, yet their ‘last, best and final offer’ rejects our safety code that was built over 80 years in the blood of workers killed on the job, and that many other waterfront employers follow,” union spokeswoman Jennifer Sargent said.
The union said it doesn’t consider the talks at an impasse and has offered additional negotiating dates.
Read the full AP article at this San Francisco Chronicle link