In an article titled “Renewed chaos hits Port of Portland terminal as Hanjin Shipping Co., prepares to announce whether its ships will keep calling,” The Oregonian once again points fingers at the men and women who have worked on the docks for decades, despite the clear failures of private terminal operator ICTSI which took over the management of Terminal 6 in 2010. You can read the full article at the Oregonian at this link, and here are excerpts showing the union’s response:
On Monday, as both a Hanjin ship and a Hapag-Lloyd vessel idled in port, operations foundered amid union accusations of ICTSI mismanagement and counter claims of longshore crews arriving hours late.
Jennifer Sargent, a union spokeswoman, said delays resulted from ICTSI failing to arrange for necessary mechanics and gear men to work on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
“ICTSI ordered the ship gangs to stand by while sufficient qualified mechanics could be secured,” Sargent wrote in an email. “There was no culpability on the part of Locals 8 or 40.”
Sargent said the union doesn’t control gate restrictions. “Nothing in the collective bargaining agreement forbids ICTSI from acting inefficiently or contrary to their customers’ interest,” she wrote.
“ICTSI continues to cut workers, and cut the wages and hours of those workers retained, while expecting greater overall productivity,” Sargent wrote. “It continues to demand increased rates and unbundling of services from the carriers while at the same time squeezing service to those carriers and the carriers’ customers and its ILWU-represented workforce.”