Mitsui-United Grain and Marubeni-Columbia Grain are operating with scab labor during the multinationals’ lockout of ILWU workers. Pictured here: Scab barge at UGC in Vancouver, WA.
Two maritime unions said Monday they’ve launched a radio ad campaign to focus attention on what they say are safety and environmental risks to the Columbia and Willamette rivers brought on by a lockout of union dockworkers by two grain companies.
The ads, paid for by the International Organization of Masters, Mates & Pilots and the Inlandboatmen’s Union, say United Grain Corp. at the Port of Vancouver and Columbia Grain in Portland are “using inexperienced crews to move cargo” on the Columbia and Willamette rivers.
United Grain and Columbia Grain “have called in a fly-by-night tug and towboat operator using questionable equipment and tugboat personnel with no prior experience on the Columbia and Willamette rivers,” Alan Cote, president of the Inlandboatmen’s Union, said in a news release. “Unqualified boat operators jeopardize the safety of commerce on our rivers and invite an environmental disaster.”
The maritime unions say they’re joined by environmentalists in running the ad campaign, which also urges listeners to sign an online petition, www.SaveNWrivers.com.
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