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Fox Business: The International Longshore and Warehouse Union filing for bankruptcy. West Coast ports to be affected – and the econoomy.

  |   By Polling+ Staff

Demonstrators march from Terminal 46 during the "Juneteenth Shutdown of All Pacific Coast Ports" rally and march event organized by Seattle's A. Philip Randolph Institute and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) in Seattle, Washington, on June 19, 2020. (Photo by Jason Redmond / AFP) (Photo by JASON REDMOND/AFP via Getty Images)

Safe to say, things are going so well for the International Longshore and Warehouse Union – the ILWU.

Fox Business headlines: https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/dockworkers-union-files-bankruptcy-amid-lawsuit-work-slowdowns

Dockworkers union files for bankruptcy amid lawsuit over work slowdowns

ILWU says it can no longer afford legal fees from ongoing dispute with former port terminal operator 

Reports FB:

“The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) representing U.S. dockworkers on the West Coast filed for bankruptcy protection last week amid a pending lawsuit over unfair work slowdowns and stoppages. 

The ILWU, which represents 22,000 dock and warehouse workers at ports along the West Coast from San Diego to Washington state, including the nation’s busiest container port at Los Angeles and Long Beach, is in the midst of litigation with the Oregon branch of the International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) over illegal work stoppages and slowdowns amid labor disputes.

A federal court found in 2019 that the ILWU had engaged in illegal labor practices from 2013 to 2017 through work slowdowns and stoppages, holding the union liable for $93.6 million in damages against ICTSI Oregon, which operated a shipping terminal at the Port of Portland during that period.

An Oregon judge later reduced the amount of damages to $19.1 million, which ICTSI rejected and prompted a new trial to be scheduled as it seeks damages in a range of $48 million to $142 million. The ILWU has argued that damages shouldn’t exceed $3.9 million and says it lacks funds to cover legal expenses that would ensue with the new trial.”

In short, West Coast ports, particularly in California, are having all kind of serious problems in the middle of the latest round of labor negotiations. The problems affect ports in San Diego, then all the way up the California coast and into Oregon and Washington.

In filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy “the ILWU listed assets of more than $11 million with about $9.5 million in cash on hand. The bankruptcy process gives the filing entity the opportunity to restructure and resolve outstanding debts with creditors.”

One can be fairly sure the there will indeed be a ripple effect – a negative one – throughout the national economy as a whole.