Lawmakers Urge USTR to Address Grain Dispute With Japanese Companies Through TPP Negotiations
The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Michael Froman should use Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations to settle a contract dispute between two Japanese grain conglomerates and U.S. grain workers in the Pacific Northwest, a group of congressional lawmakers said in a Sept. 30 letter to USTR. The dispute pits the Marubeni and Mitsui conglomerates against International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) workers and has resulted in lockouts that began in February and May at two U.S. grain facilities, the letter said. The Japanese conglomerates pushed contracts that the ILWU rejected with 94 percent of workers, said the letter. Congressmen Jim McDermott, D-Wash, Adam Smith, D-Wash., Rick Larsen, D-Wash., Denny Heck, D-Wash., Derek Kilmer, D-Wash., and Congresswoman Suzan DelBene, D-Wash. endorsed the letter.
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“The trade ambassador should let his Japanese counterparts know that Mitsui and Marabeni came to the negotiating table last year with a contract demanding hundreds of concessionary changes to a successful 80-year-old contract, refused to budge in any substantial way from their first proposal, and hired a strikebreaking firm at the start of negotiations -- signaling an unwillingness to bargain in good faith,” said a spokeswoman for Congressman McDermott. The spokeswoman did not comment on whether the congressmen want USTR to address relevant labor conditions as part of TPP framework. USTR Froman conducted TPP ministerial and bilateral negotiations in Bali on Oct. 3, according to USTR (see 13100120).
The lawmakers sent the letter at the request of ILWU, said ILWU Legislative Director Lindsay McLaughlin. The union is not targeting labor discipline reform in TPP framework, merely a resolution of this specific dispute, said McLaughlin. "We’re just kind of stuck at loggerheads. There’s a limit to our patience. They demanded hundreds of changes for contracts that have been in effect for 80 years and refused to budge in any way," said McLaughlin. " -- Brian Dabbs