The International Longshore and Warehouse Union, in its dispute over a new employment contract with Northwest grain terminal operators, views a temporary agreement it signed with U.S.-based Temco as a road map for resolving its differences with three other companies.
Jennifer Sargent, spokeswoman for the ILWU, said in an email to The Columbian Friday that about 75 percent of local union members in Vancouver, Portland, Seattle, Tacoma, Longview and Kalama voted to approve the Temco agreement.
What’s more, she said, the Temco contract is superior to the one imposed by United Grain, Columbia Grain and Louis Dreyfus because it “preserves a fair grievance machinery to protect workers’ rights in case of workplace disputes, predictable and regular work shifts that respect family life, recognition of holidays such as Christmas, and the preservation of jurisdiction established since 1934.”
Pat McCormick, spokesman for the Pacific Northwest Grain Handlers Association, said Friday using the Temco agreement as a basis for continuing discussions remains a “non-starter.”
