A federal judge in Portland granted a preliminary injunction against the local longshore union Thursday. It orders workers to stop a slowdown at the Port of Portland.
Photo by Lucila Cejas Epple
Judge Michael Simon stopped short of finding the union in contempt of court. He said members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union probably had slowed down, but he wasn't shown evidence that union officials were responsible. Michael Gorone is the attorney for the Filipino firm that runs one of the Terminals at the Port.
"My client's very satisfied that Judge Simon issued a preliminary injunction against the ILWU relating to the recent stoppages and slowdowns at Terminal 6," said Gorone.
The attorney for the ILWU questioned the data that the court considered when deciding whether there was a slowdown.
The dispute with another union revolves around the work of plugging and unplugging refrigeration containers. New technology threatens to replace those jobs.
The court gave the parties a week to try to reach agreement.
