The tentative agreement comes just weeks after Gov. Jay Inslee notified United Grain Corporation (UGC) – a Port of Vancouver tenant and one of three grain handlers at odds with the ILWU – that the state would no longer supply police escorts for grain inspectors. Inspectors had refused to enter the port without an escort, citing safety concerns. As a result, UGC shipments from the Port of Vancouver had slowed to a trickle.
“This is outstanding news for grain growers across Washington, for our grain customers overseas and for the hundreds of ILWU workers who will now be back on the job,” said Inslee in a statement. “United Grain Company has been notified that state grain inspectors will resume inspections immediately.”
While terms of the agreement were not disclosed, Scot L. Beckenbaugh, acting director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, said that both sides were able to reach mutually beneficial solutions.
“These were difficult and contentious negotiations to be certain,” said Beckenbaugh in a statement. “I am grateful for the professionalism and cooperation the parties exhibited in mediation process during which they were able to reach what they believe will be acceptable and mutually beneficial solutions to the issues which have separated them for so long. I especially commend the leadership demonstrated by the representatives of ILWU and the representatives of the Grain Handlers. Though fierce in their representation of their respective positions, they never lost sight of their responsibility to reach a mutually acceptable solution.”
United Grain’s terminal at the Port of Vancouver processes about 16 percent of the nation’s grain exports.
Image courtesy UGC
