Longview grain terminal, Longshoremen ink contract

Friday, February 10, 2012

LONGVIEW, Wash. (AP) -- The International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the EGT joint venture signed a five-year labor agreement Friday covering operations at the grain terminal at the Port of Longview.

Both sides reached a tentative agreement last month that allowed Longshore union workers to handle the first ship that arrived Tuesday to take 57,000 tons of Washington wheat to South Korea.

EGT expects the $200 million terminal to load 150 to 200 ships a year to carry wheat, corn and soybeans to Asia.

EGT had originally hired workers from another union. The Longshore union carried out a series of protests over the past year resulting in hundreds of arrests.

The Daily News reports (http://is.gd/C4IQUk ) Longshore workers approved the contract in a Thursday night vote.

The grain terminal employs about two dozen workers.

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Information from: The Daily News, http://www.tdn.com