This decision came during a labor dispute between the terminal operator ICTSI and the ILWU. On March 9, 2015, Hanjin, a South Korean-based shipping line which accounted for 78% of all container traffic to the Port of Portland, stopped serving the Port at Terminal 6 because of low productivity (including inefficient loading and unloading) and increased costs. ![]() In May 2014, a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled that the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (which represents dockworkers at all West Coast ports, including Portland) was intentionally and unlawfully slowing work, with the goal of driving business out of the Port of Portland, partly due to a dispute over having their workers setup electrical connections to refrigerated containers rather than workers belonging to a different union. In February 2014, a safety inspection at Terminal 6 by the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration "found ICTSI Oregon to be in violation of more than a dozen worker safety codes, such as not informing employees about potential exposure to airborne lead and having workers operate machinery that lacked proper guards against flying objects." OSHA imposed fines of $18,360 against ICTSI Oregon for the violations. ![]() In an attempt to operate the port sustainably, the port signed a 25-year lease in 2010 with Philippines-based International Container Terminal Services for $4.5 million annual payments. 21st century Įxecutive director Bill Wyatt speaks at the Port of Portland lease signing ceremony for the Portland Air National Guard Base in 2013.įrom the mid 1970's until 2007, the Port itself operated Terminal 6, the sole shipping container terminal in Oregon, losing money every year but two while seeing its role as that of subsidizing the state's greater economy. The very nature of this kind of an appointive process is fraught with potential conflicts of interest. The unpaid job of Port commissioner remains one of the choicest rewards that a governor can bestow upon his close friends and largest political backers. It has always been embroiled in politics it is still embroiled in politics. MacColl summarized the events in 1979, saying this:Ĭlearly revealed the political nature of the Port of Portland Commission. Polhemus stayed with the Port for another three years before becoming a vice president at Portland General Electric. In mid-December, the Port commissioners voted to reject the investigating committee brief, meaning Polhemus was exonerated. His murder was never solved, leading to many conspiracy theories. On November 20, 1933, shortly after the commission found Polhemus and his staff guilty, professional auditor Frank Akin was found shot to death. The investigating committee called for the resignation of Polhemus and other staff. Companies specifically named as beneficiaries of this graft were McCormick Steamship Company and States Steamship Company. Much of the blame was because of discounted rates for using the port's dry dock. ![]() Polhemus, the general manager of the port from 1923–1936, were found guilty of mismanagement, both through conflict of interest and cronyism, as well as negligence, sale of equipment at lower than assessed prices, carelessness, and preferential treatment of some private shippers. The Port of Portland's administration was embroiled in questionable business practices in the early 1930s. Through the years, the Port acquired the Commission of Public Docks, which operated public-use docks in Portland Harbor, and they built Portland's first airport. In 1891, the Oregon Legislature created the Port to dredge and maintain a shipping channel from the city of Portland to the Pacific Ocean. ![]() The Port manages five industrial parks around the metropolitan area, and they own and operate the Dredge Oregon to help maintain the navigation channel on the lower Columbia and Willamette rivers. The Port of Portland owns four marine terminals, including Oregon's only deep-draft container port, and three airports. Originally established in 1891 by the 16th Oregon Legislative Assembly, the current incarnation was created by the 1970 legislature, combining the original Port with the Portland Commission of Public Docks, a city agency dating from 1910. The Port of Portland is the port district responsible for overseeing Portland International Airport, general aviation, and marine activities in the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area in the United States. 196 feet, restricted by Astoria–Megler Bridge
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |