A BOON FOR PORTLAND’S MARITIME SECTOR
Vigor christens new drydock at
Portland’s Swan Island shipyard
Union shipbuilder Vigor Industrial held a christen-
ing ceremony Oct. 25 for its new drydock, the Vigor-
ous. The 960-foot Chinese-built vessel is the largest
floating drydock in North America and will open Port-
land to new markets, such as cruise ships and post-
Panamax vessels.
Two MARAD cargo ships will be the first vessels
in the dock, creating 130 union jobs. The company
also has a cruise ship booked for repairs in March
2015.
Vigor Industrial is the parent company of Cascade
General and Vigor Marine LLC at Portland’s Swan Is-
land ship repair yard. Workers at Vigor Marine are
represented by Seattle-based Boilermakers Local 104.
Workers at Cascade General are members of various
craft unions who work under a master labor agree-
ment negotiated and administered by the Metal Trades
Department, AFL-CIO. The Portland Metal Trades
Council bargains local terms and conditions at Swan
Island. [The Carpenters Union represents some em-
ployees there under a separate agreement.]
The Portland Metal Trades Council contract at
Cascade General expires Nov. 30. Bargaining for a
new contract began last month.
The master agreement with the national Metal
Trades Department expires June 1, 2017.
Vigor invested more than $50 million to build and
deliver the Vigorous from China to Swan Island.
“This is a momentous day for us,” said Vigor chief
operating officer Dave Whitcomb at the christening.
“Vigorous is here to support family-wage jobs for the
men and women of Vigor as well as the marine com-
munity here in Portland.”
Gary Moore, a business representative for Laborers
Local 296, said the new dry dock marks the resur-
gence of the maritime industry in Portland. “We an-
ticipate a lot of good jobs coming from this,” he said.
Vigor CEO Frank Foti said at the christening that
the choice to sell the original dry dock in 2001 was a
difficult decision which took courage. Now, 13 years
later, the Vigorous joins 11 other
drydocks at locations across the
Pacific Northwest from Portland
to Ketchikan.
Including Portland, Vigor In-
dustrial employs approximately
2,000 union workers at facilities
in Seattle, Tacoma, Everett, Bre-
merton and Port Angeles.
KEY SPECIFICATIONS
Lifting capacity: 80,000 tons
Length: 960 feet
Inside Width: 186 feet
Total width: 228 feet
Height: 70 feet
Weight: 24,000 tons
A little wind and rain didn’t
deter nearly a thousand
employees, union officials,
customers and their families
from enjoying music, food
and games Oct. 25 at the
christening of Vigor
Industrial’s new drydock —
the Vigorous — at Portland’s
Swan Island ship repair
yard. (Photos courtesy of
Vigor Industrial)
Worker activists
plan ‘Black Friday’
protests at Walmart
Walmart worker activists who have
been agitating peacefully for years for
pro-worker changes at the notoriously
anti-union retail giant are again plan-
ning mass protests at stores nation-
wide on “Black Friday,” the big shop-
ping day immediately after
Thanksgiving.
In Portland, a protest is scheduled
Friday, Nov, 28, at 11 a.m. at Wal-
mart, 4200 SE 82nd Ave, Portland.
For more information, go on line at
https://actionnetwork.org/events/ore-
gon-walmart-workers-stand-up.
Where’s our
report on the
November 2014
election?
This issue of the NW Labor
Press headed to the printer be-
fore the results of the Nov. 4
election were known. For a
comprehensive look at what the
election results mean for work-
ing people, visit us online at
nwlaborpress.org/election-2014,
or look for our Nov. 21 print is-
sue.
PAGE 12
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
NOVEMBER 7, 2014