Dockworkers’ pace too slow, board claims

PORTLAND – The National Labor Relations Board asked a federal judge Friday to hold Port of Portland dockworkers in contempt of court because they defied his order to work faster.

District Judge Michael Simon issued a 10-day restraining order Tuesday that required longshoremen to end a slowdown that has disrupted shipping and forced Northwest businesses to reroute cargo to Seattle.

A container ship arrived Wednesday morning, and the longshoremen unloaded fewer containers per hour than normal, according to port officials.

Anne Pomerantz, regional attorney for the NLRB, said Friday that the workers operated vehicles at reduced speeds and sometimes stopped them for excessive periods of time. She said the workers also required instruction to do work in which they are already trained.

An arbitration hearing regarding the conduct was held Wednesday afternoon, and arbitrator Jan Holmes concluded the union workers were engaging in an illegal slowdown and ordered them to resume normal production levels.

Work sped up after the hearing. For the day, the longshoremen averaged moving about 22 containers per hour instead of the typical 27 or 28, a Port of Portland spokesman said.

In its court filing, the NLRB requests an expedited hearing and asks the judge to set a fine schedule for future violations.

Jennifer Sargent, spokeswoman for the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, declined to comment on Friday’s action.

The slowdown began early last month amid a dispute between the unions representing longshoremen and electrical workers. The unions disagree about which workers should plug in and unplug refrigerated shipping containers – the equivalent of two full-time jobs.

The conflict has led some container ships to bypass Portland and unload and pick up cargo in Seattle. That makes it more expensive for more than 1,000 regional businesses to get their goods to or from international markets.

The next container ship is scheduled to arrive in the middle of next week.