While other ports on the USA’s west coast have also seen strikes, ICTSI Oregon is experiencing some of the worst as the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) escalates its efforts. During the busy 2014 holiday period, ILWU engaged in around 36 work stoppages and slowdowns, and they don’t show any sign of stopping in 2015.
Just yesterday, the ILWU ordered a 12-hour work stoppage starting at 7:00 a.m. Today, ILWU members worked during the morning, but walked off the job without notice at 1:15 p.m.
ICSTI Oregon says work stoppages like this “cause serious hardship to truckers, shippers, and the general public”.
Terminal 6 is the only international shipping container terminal in the state, and with productivity continuing to fall “well below acceptable levels”, ICTSI Oregon is calling on the ILWU to put an end to its deliberate work delays, saying it could seriously threaten the terminal’s future viability as a critical hub of regional economic activity.
ICTSI Oregon Inc. is a subsidiary of ICTSI, an international operator of common-user container terminals serving the global container shipping industry.