Port of Longview/EGT Grain Terminal Labor dispute

1. Port of Longview/EGT Grain Terminal Labor dispute

2. ILWU • Controls all hiring of stevedores on west coast of US and Canada including those operating container terminals, grain elevators, passenger ship piers, etc… • Maintain control of hiring and secures collective contracts using collective bargaining and the power to withhold labor (strike)

3. Collective Bargaining (short definition) • Collective bargaining consists of negotiations between an employer and a group of employees so as to determine the conditions of employment. The result of collective bargaining procedures is a collective agreement. http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/Collective_bargaining

4. Collective bargaining (long definition) Collective bargaining is a process whereby trade unions, representing workers, and employers through their representatives, treat and negotiate with a view to the conclusion of a collective agreement or renewal thereof or the resolution of disputes.A collective agreement is usually an agreement in writing between an employer and a union, on behalf of workers employed by the employer. It contains provisions reflecting terms and conditions of employment of the workers, and conferring to them their rights, privileges and responsibilities.Sometimes the terms “bargaining” and “negotiating” are used to describe the same process. Theoretically, the term bargaining is probably better used to describe the economic interaction between an employer and an employee which is finalized in the individual contract, whether written or unwritten. When an employer hires a worker, he can demand labor, and agree on a price for that labor. The offer, acceptance, consideration, and intention to create a legal relationship constitutes a bargain to which compliance can be sought in law.When trade unions negotiate a collective agreement with employers, the process and the outcome are somewhat different. In the first place, trade unions do not sell labor to employers, unlike individual workers. Likewise, employers do not pay trade unions for work done. Trade unions use collective bargaining as a means of setting the rules by which labor in the workplace will be regulated and remunerated.The process of collective bargaining is in reality a series of negotiations, diplomatic and political maneuvers, with the influence of economics. The trade union negotiator has to negotiate with his or her principals, the general membership, as well as with the union’s negotiating teams, even as the negotiator negotiates with the employers. The employers’ negotiator is often in a similar situation. http://www.ilocarib.org.tt/Promalco_tool/productivity-tools/manual10/m10_3.htm#What%20is%20Collective%20Bargaining

5. “The process of collective bargaining is in reality a series of negotiations, diplomatic and political maneuvers, with the influence of economics” • Public relations is a powerful tool because the public can influence either side to make concessions and could potentially boycott a company if they have a negative perception of it. • Legal strategies can give one side the upper hand through court rulings • Political pressure can result in laws that benefit one side or politicians influencing public opinion.

6. Power to withhold labor (strike) • Strike action, also called labor strike, on strike, or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Lockout • A lockout is a work stoppage in which an employer prevents employees from working.

7. The current dispute • Port of Longview owns the site and has agreement with ILWU to provide labor • An Export Grain Terminal (EGT) was built as a joint venture by Japan-based Itochu Corp, South Korea’s STX Pan Ocean and St. Louis-based Bunge North America and calls itself EGT, LLC. It declared that ILWU labor would be costly and inefficient. • The EGT group is suing the Port to avoid using ILWU labor and operating the terminal with non-ILWU labor in the meantime. • De-facto defeat for ILWU as EGT continues to operate without employing their members until suit is resolved