ILWU members on the picket line during grain lockout. Photo by the Oregonian.
Negotiations between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association, whose members operate West Coast ports, are on a three-day break so the union can negotiate with a group of Northwest grain handlers.
The union is bargaining with “grain employers Louis Dreyfus Commodities, Marubeni-Columbia Grain and Mitsui-United Grain,” said longshore spokesperson Jennifer Sargent in an email. Relations between the union and the companies, all with headquarters overseas, have been chilled since longshore workers were locked out by Mitsui-United Grain and Marubeni-Columbia Grain more than a year ago.
The union seeks to replace an agreement that expired in September 2012. The union reached an agreement with another Northwest grain handler, Temco, a joint venture between Cargill and CHS, in February 2013.