Portland dock work wanes, but pay doesn’t

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Portland’s longshore workers are doing 1 percent of the work they did before, but dock worker pay barely took a hit.

The Oregonian reports that the International Longshore and Warehouse Union has a Pay Guarantee Plan that ensures workers get nearly a full week’s pay at almost four times minimum wage regardless of how much work there is to do.

Port of Portland workers were also paid more than $1 million while not working during a 2013 lockout.

Union advocates say the plan provides financial certainty in a business that tends to ebb and flow.

But critics of the longshore union say the plan removes incentive to bring shipping lines back to Portland’s once-busy Terminal 6, where work has waned over the past year.