Vol. 77/No. 20      May 27, 2013

In December longshore workers voted 94 percent to reject concession contracts offered by the Pacific Northwest Grain Handlers Association, which includes United Grain, Columbia Grain, Temco Elevator, and Louis Dreyfus Commodities. Only Temco has signed a new agreement with the union.

“The picketers in Portland are getting community support because people realize that company greed is hurting workers,” ILWU spokesperson Jennifer Sargent said in a phone interview.

On May 7 union supporters in nine boats temporarily blocked a grain ship trying to dock at the Port of Kalama, just up the Columbia River. Nonunion workers had loaded grain onto the ship at United Grain’s Port of Vancouver terminal.

According to the Columbian, the U.S. Coast Guard cited the owner of one of the boats for allegedly violating a 200-yard safety zone at the port.

“Members of Local 21 felt that they had a reputation to uphold. That’s why they took it upon themselves to block a ship that was loaded with scab labor at United Grain,” Kyle Mackey, secretary-treasurer of ILWU Local 21 in Longview, Wash., told the Militant by phone May 9. He said that Local 8 is planning a community rally for June 1 at Kelley Point Park in Portland.

Columbia Grain did not respond to requests for comment.

—Edwin Fruit

Washington Machinists strike, demand new hires be union
AUBURN, Wash. — Sixty-two members of Machinists Local 79 have been standing strong in the seventh week of their strike against Belshaw Adamatic, a manufacturer of bakery equipment. The workers set up picket lines here March 25. On April 1 the company cut off medical benefits.

“The company wants the right to change health care plans during the life of the contract,” chief shop steward Cliff LaPlant said at the picket line May 6. “The union wants no changes while the contract is in effect.”

Bosses also want the right to outsource work and hire temporary workers for 90 days, LaPlant said. “The union wants all new hires to be in the union. There are also differences in wage increases and pension contributions that have not been resolved.”

LaPlant said that three union members have crossed the picket line, but one came back out after a short time. Striker Hari Shankar was badly bruised when a scab hit him with his car May 3, LaPlant said.

Lance Kondo, who works at Vigor Shipyards, which is also organized by Local 79, was at the picket line May 6. “As a member of the executive board of the local, I feel it is important to show support to my brothers and sisters,” he said.

“I try to get down to the picket line at least once a week,” Syd Coe, a member of Teamsters Local 117 on strike at Davis Wire last summer, said by phone. “When we were on strike we had a lot of solidarity from other union people.”

Workers were voting on a new contract proposal May 10. Belshaw Adamatic has not returned calls requesting comment.

— Edwin Fruit

Hong Kong dockworkers win breaks, pay raise
Some 500 dockworkers in Hong Kong ended a 40-day strike against Hongkong International Terminals May 6 after voting by 80 percent to accept a 9.8 percent pay raise and agreement by the four contracting companies that employ them to provide meal and bathroom breaks.

The workers, who were making less than they earned in 1995, demanded a 20 percent pay raise above their average $7 hourly pay in response to the bosses’ offer of a 5 percent increase.

“It was not just a fight for a wage increase, it was a fight for dignity and respect,” striking dockworker Ng Siu-keung, employed by contractor Everbest Port Services, told the South China Morning Post.

“Stevedores are often asked to work three eight-hour shifts in one go, and they even have to work up to 72 hours continuously during peak season,” wrote Lee Cheuk-yan, general secretary of the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions, in a May 3 column in the paper. “Crane operators work 12-hour shifts, and sometimes 24-hour shifts, in cabins 80 feet above the ground. They are not given proper meal and toilet breaks.”

A week after the walkout began about 300 other port crane workers started a work-to-rule action to support the strike, leading their bosses to offer them more pay.

More than $1.1 million was raised in contributions for the workers’ strike fund. In the U.S. both the International Longshoremen’s Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union issued calls for solidarity with the Hong Kong dockworkers. Port workers from the Netherlands to Australia took part in demonstrations in Hong Kong to support the strike.

—Brian Williams

Locked-out Ontario Steelworkers reject boss attacks on seniority
NANTICOKE, Ontario — Members of United Steelworkers Local 8782 at Lake Erie Works have been picketing here 24/7 since April 28, when United States Steel Corp. locked out nearly 1,000 workers. The unionists had voted 70 percent to reject the company’s proposed concessions.

During a visit to the picket lines April 4 and 5, workers told the Militant one of the main issues is seniority. The company proposal says “existing seniority provisions and local working conditions will be eliminated or modified as appropriate” to restructure the company “to have maximum efficiency and have employees perform a broader range of duties.” U.S. Steel intends to reduce job classifications from 28 to just eight, which workers say would mean a pay cut for many.

“The vagueness of the company’s proposal is enough to reject the contract,” said Luke McCannon, a production worker, adding that weakening seniority would increase competition among workers.

The company also wants to introduce co-payments on health benefits, place a cap on vacation time, and modify the way cost-of-living allowances are determined so workers would get virtually no pay increase.

Workers are gearing up for what could be a long fight. “My father worked here for 30 years and I don’t want to lose what he fought for, for so long,” said Dean Lacy, a production worker on the picket line.

“All we want is to keep what we have,” added Henry Dickson.

“I will not give back a penny,” said Lap Nguyen, a millwright with eight years in the plant.

Send messages of solidarity to Bill Ferguson, Local 8782 president, at billferguson@uswa8782.com or by mail at P.O. Box 220, Jarvis, Ontario N0J 1J0.

—Michel Dugré and Annette Kouri