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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 7, 2019)
A3 THE ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2019 Paper mill reopens and creates new paper product By MONICA SAMAYOA Oregon Public Broadcasting An Oregon paper mill company has successfully created a new, nonwood paper product that uses agricultural waste to pro- duce paper. The West Linn-based Willamette Falls Paper Co. made its fi rst nonwood paper product using pulp from wheat straw fi bers. The new product uses 10% of fi bers which are col- lected from the shaft of the wheat and broken down into microscopic fi bers, which are then used to make both coated and uncoated paper. “We want to be the fi rst coated paper mill to offer nonwood grades made in the U.S. and sourced with local agricultural waste, in this case, straw,” said Phil Harding, the director of technology and sustainabil- ity at the mill. “Our long- term focus is sustainable paper-making, and success- ful trials using nonwood raw materials is another step toward this goal.” The 130-year-old mill reopened two months ago after it closed two years ago. The company originally planned to hire 85 employ- ees at the restarted mill but now employs 120, accord- ing to Harding. Additional machine and press trials are ongoing to refi ne the paper properties and specifi cations. How- ever, early outcomes from press room trials and initial customer feedback has been very positive. According to Harding, the company used local wheat as a way to help reduce the carbon footprint of shipping and import- ing materials from other locations. “We are delighted to at once create a novel product offering while also reducing agricultural waste,” Hard- Ian K. Kullgren/The Oregonian Willamette Falls Paper Co. as seen from atop the hydroelectric dam near the east bank of the Willamette River. ing said. The mill has been work- ing with Trinseo, its key supplier on developing paper grades that will have similar characteristics to the mill’s standard grades. “Finding innovative ways to increase the use of sustainable materials is a critical focus for us, the industry, and modern soci- ety, so we’re thrilled to con- tinue our support in their development and commer- cialization of this new prod- uct,” Trinseo’s Todd Crook said. The mill is expected to start making its new prod- uct available to customers by the end of November. The Oregonian contrib- uted to this report. Port of Portland gets $93.6M over workers’ unlawful labor practices By MAXINE BERNSTEIN The Oregonian A federal jury awarded $93.6 million to the former operator of the Port of Port- land’s container terminal, fi nd- ing the dock workers union sabotaged shipping traffi c and caused productivity to plum- met through years of labor slowdowns and stoppages. The Philippine-owned ICTSI Oregon, which signed a 25-year lease in 2010 to oper- ate Terminal 6, left the port in March 2017, idled by the labor strife it says the Interna- tional Longshore and Ware- house Union and its Local 8 chapter encouraged. That marked the effec- tive end to the frequent use of Oregon’s only container terminal accessible by large ocean-crossing cargo ves- sels. Terminal 6 now mostly runs as a truck-to-train opera- tion with containers unloaded from trucks onto trains bound for the ports of Tacoma and Seattle. The verdict reached Mon- day followed a two-week civil trial before U.S. District Judge Michael H. Simon in Port- land and years of protracted disputes in court and before the National Labor Relations Board. “The ILWU went too far. They have given that mid- dle fi nger to the port, to the National Labor Relations Board and to its own com- munity, and you are here to hold them accountable,’’ ICT- SI’s lawyer Amanda T. Gam- blin told jurors in her closing argument. The union “beat ICTSI into the ground,’’ Gamblin said. But the union’s lawyers said declines in productiv- ity at Terminal 6 resulted from a range of factors: mar- ket forces, geographic lim- itations of the port situated so far inland with a shallow river depth for big vessels and dismissive management that caused a demoralized workforce. “ICTSI is trying to use the ILWU as its piggybank,” attorney Susan J. Harriman argued on behalf of the union. “It decided to make its money from this lawsuit, instead of making Terminal 6 a success.’’ The international union and its Portland chapter had been clashing for years with the terminal operator, starting shortly after the port hired the company to run its container terminal. In 2012, longshore work- ers claimed ICTSI Oregon should give them the jobs plugging, unplugging and monitoring refrigerated con- tainers, taking the so-called “reefer’’ work away from an electricians union. The large marine terminal on the Columbia River, about 100 miles inland from the Pacifi c Ocean, was equipped to unload and load seagoing vessels and to store incoming and outgoing containers while awaiting shipment by land or sea. The “reefer” containers have electrically powered refrigeration units attached to safely ship perishable agricul- tural commodities and other goods all over the world. Workers had to plug the con- tainers into electrical recepta- cle banks at the terminal and periodically check to make sure they were kept at the proper temperatures. The terminal operator argued that the union delib- erately disrupted work to get the company to grant long- shore workers the sought-after “reefer’’ jobs: truckers driving at a walking pace, workers taking extensive time loading containers and others showing up late, delaying crane work- ers from getting started. A judge already deter- mined that the union was guilty of unlawful labor prac- tices from May 21, 2012, through Aug. 13, 2013, to get the work on the refrigerated containers. The eight-member jury was asked to decide if those unlawful practices continued through March 2017 and if damages should be awarded for losses suffered. Jurors found the unlawful labor practices did continue and awarded the damages after deliberating for about 3 ½ hours. It also found that the international union and local chapter were jointly lia- ble, with ILWU responsible for 55% of the damages, and Local 8, the other 45%. According to testimony, Leal Sundet, one of the lead- ers of the international union, had threatened the port oper- ator’s chief executive offi - cer Elvis Ganda on May 21, 2012, that “I am the guy who can (expletive) you badly” and that ICTSI “would pay the price” if it didn’t give the refrigerated container work to the longshore workers union. Three days later, Local 8 President Jeff Smith demanded ICTSI assign the dockside refrigerated con- tainer jobs to his workers and if not, the union would put ICTSI out of business and run every Hanjin container out of Portland, according to ICT- SI’s lawyers. ICTSI sought damages of between $97 million and $135 million for its estimated oper- ating losses. The company shut down its container operations at Ter- minal 6 on March 31, 2017, and laid off much of its staff after major shipping compa- nies pulled out of Portland. South Korea’s Hanjin Ship- ping, the terminal’s largest customer, and Hapag Lloyd America, its second-largest customer, ceased using the terminal in the 2015. The two accounted for about 98% of the terminal’s business. The union argued that the company’s estimated dam- ages were based on faulty assumptions and infl ated numbers and urged jurors to award no more than $1.3 million. Harriman, the union’s law- yer, said its workers “wanted to succeed but they were treated like donkeys and belit- tled and fi red without cause. …They helped build Termi- nal 6 and they literally broke their backs trying to make Ter- minal 6 a success.’’ She said any job actions were related to collective GAME MEAT PROCESSING Debbie D’s will be at Cash & Carry in Warrenton at 10:00 a.m. every Saturday to pick up and deliver meat for processing. bargaining for a new union contract, which was law- ful. “Labor and employment practices were driving slow- downs, not reefer work,’’ she told jurors. After the jury returned the verdict, Harriman urged the judge to formally delay enter- ing the judgment. The union intends to Consult a PROFESSIONAL are the minimum Q: What requirements for Windows 10 upgrades? LEO FINZI Fast, Friendly & Affordable! Astoria’s Best.com 8.00 6PM “Karaoke Dave” Sunday November 10 TH sensitive and bleed more easily. Why? 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