ICTSI hopes NLRB decision will help bring carriers back to Portland

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union said it will appeal the National Labor Relations Board decision, which requires the union to post to post a notice saying it will not encourage employees to engage in slow downs or work stoppages.    The head of ICTSI Oregon, the stevedore that operates the container terminal in the Port of Portland, said he was hopeful that a ruling by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) will help convince shipping companies to return to the port, but now the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) say they will appeal that decision.
   The decision, handed down last week by the NLRB, largely upheld a decision from Administrative Law Judge William Schmidt on August 28, 2013.
   As part of the ruling, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union is required to post a notice that says, “We will not induce or encourage employees of ICTSI Oregon, Inc. (ICTSI) to withhold their services, engage in slow downs and work stoppages, or interfere with the lawful and proper work assignments of other employee groups that perform services at Terminal 6 in Portland, Oregon, in order to force or require ICTSI, or any sea-going carrier to cease using the services provided at Terminal 6.”
   Earlier this year Hapag-Lloyd and Hanjin, which provided the vast majority of container business through the port, terminated their services to Portland. Westwood continues to serve the port.
   “We are gratified by the NLRB’s ruling, which rejected all of the ILWU’s legal arguments,” Elvis Ganda, chief executive officer of ICTSI Oregon, said in a statement. “Hopefully, this decision will bring us one step closer to ending the ILWU’s orchestrated and illegal campaign to undermine the success of Terminal 6 and to convincing the shipping companies to return to the Port of Portland.”
   In a separate release from the union, ILWU Coast Committeeman Leal Sundet claimed, “The National Labor Relations Board’s Decision is not enforceable or binding. It simply adopts an Administrative Law Judge’s earlier rulings, without bothering to state any explanation or legal reasoning. Nor does the NLRB’s Decision attempt to correct or comment on the administrative judge’s failure to even consider, let alone apply, the controlling Supreme Court precedent covering the longshore industry.
   “Although we are obviously disappointed, we are not surprised,” added Sundet. “In fact, by not correcting the many legal errors made by the Administrative Law Judge, the NLRB’s decision actually maintains conditions that will give the ILWU even stronger arguments on appeal. The ILWU will be promptly filing an appeal with the federal circuit court and, if necessary, the U.S. Supreme Court. We expect a better hearing of our arguments and certainly more consideration of the law when we get before the appeals court.
   “Finally, the ILWU has always been available to work with ICTSI to improve the company’s operations in Portland, which is the Philippines-based company’s first attempt to manage a port in the United States. Unfortunately, ICTSI has refused to engage in any discussions with the union to improve productivity. All other terminals at the Port of Portland are productive with the same ILWU workforce that is available to ICTSI, and we hope that ICTSI will consider improving its management of Terminal 6 and give the region the port it needs and deserves.”