Montana wheat farmers are among those who have relied on the continual service provided by experienced longshore workers to export grain since 1934.
In a rare move, longshoremen from the Pacific Northwest are traveling across Montana cautioning wheat farmers about possible trouble shipping grain from the state overseas.
Montana wheat harvest is in full swing and grain trains bound for export terminals in Oregon and Washington will soon hit peak shipping season. The ILWU says there’s too much grain to move with union dockworkers sidelined.
“Our concern is the disruption of new grain exports and how that will affect farmers. We don’t want to see that happen,” said Rich Austin a Seattle longshoreman. “It’s really easy to confuse a lockout with a strike in some people’s minds, but it’s not us. We’re locked out. We’re not on strike.”
Grain growers in Oregon and Washington have been eyeing the lockout uneasily for several months.