It's been busy at Northwest Container in North Portland. Many shippers are using the service to get their containers filled with goods to and from the Ports of Seattle and Tacoma.
Conrad Wilson / OPB
A bipartisan group of 14 Oregon lawmakers issued a letter this week, calling for an end to a longstanding labor dispute that drove out a major container handler at the Port of Portland.
The letter was addressed to the heads of the Pacific Maritime Association and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, as well as the leaders of the local ILWU chapter and Philippines-based port management service ICTSI — a company that contracts with the port to hire workers to remove containers from ships.
The letter follows the end of operations this week by South Korea-based shipper Hanjin at the Port of Portland's Terminal 6. Hanjin had been handling about 80 percent of the cargo at the terminal, but decided to pull out of the port because of a three-year-old labor dispute between ILWU and ICTSI Oregon.
"Hanjin's departure is not a result of a lack of cargo," said the Oregon lawmakers in the statement. "It is clear to us
that Hanjin's departure is a direct result of poor productivity at (Terminal 6) due to on-going issues between ICTSI
and ILWU Local 8."
The group of Democrats and Republicans — who represent both urban and rural districts across Oregon — also said it could be difficult to replace Hanjin.
"We are gravely concerned that without resolution we will be unable to attract new carrier service to the market and
reestablish the jobs and trade flow that our economy depends on," they wrote.
Compounding the problem is a backlog of goods from the monthslong labor dispute at ports along the West Coast, which was only just resolved in February.
Both ILWU and ICTSI Oregon said they were not contacted by the lawmakers before the letter was issued.
Jennifer Sargent, spokesperson for ILWU, called that "unfortunate" in an emailed statement.
"The ILWU is always open to having dialogue and improving operations with employers who play by the rules," she said in reference to ICTSI Oregon.
She said that if the state lawmakers had reached out to ILWU, the union would have explained its perspective on the impasse.
"We’d have asked them to consider the fact that the Port of Portland has ten marine terminals, all of which are experiencing good labor relations ... except for the one operated by ICTSI," said Sargent.
While ICTSI Oregon didn't communicate with the state lawmakers who signed the letter, they say they have been in discussions with Gov. Kate Brown about issues at Terminal 6.
"We are glad that lawmakers understand the importance of Terminal 6 to Oregon’s economy and hope their concern will encourage the ILWU to become a partner for progress," the company said in a written statement.
ICTSI Oregon placed blame for the extended dispute on ILWU, accusing the union of engaging in "a systematic campaign to undermine the terminal’s success."