The ILWU is so ashamed of their new PNW Grain Agreement, they refuse to discuss it and were said to be very upset that the press talked to me.
Looks like everything about their fancy new labor agreement is secret.
The Union spokesperson said I was “misinterpreting the contract, making a mountain out of a molehill, etc., because grain handlers have long used steady employees.”
Yes the Grain Companies have long used steady men, but the new Grain Agreement Sections 12.1 and 12.2 takes the dispatch hall out of the process and allows the Employer to reach out to any longshoreman, regardless or seniority, and offer them steady employment without posting any order with the hall. Taking the hall out of the process is significant. The shapeup is back for the first time since it was eliminated by the strike in 1934. Did they think we would forget why the ILWU was formed in the first place?
When questioned by the reporter, the ILWU spokesman issued the following statement: “The union doesn’t choose any steady men anywhere and never has.”
Smoke and mirrors, lies and deception, more answers that don’t answer, all part of the secret society of the ILWU.
The ILWU is so proud of their new Grain contract that they refuse to respond to the reporters request to compare the previous contract with the new one.
Shame on you Leal and Roger, you sold out the hall.
Tentative Grain Handlers Agreement 8-11-14