Vigor itself boasts $624.6 million in revenue while Carlyle Group makes $2 billion in revenue. Since then, Vigor has expanded and merged, and was eventually acquired by The Carlyle Group and Stellex Capital Management in 2019, forming part of Titan Acquisition Holdings. Vigor Marine was founded in 1995 when owner Frank Foti purchased the ailing ship repair company Cascade General. When workers continued to express strong sentiment for a strike, the unions returned to the bargaining table to repackage another concessionary deal with Vigor Marine. While the leadership claimed the second vote was to “gauge current sentiment among workers,” it was really an attempt to see if the militant sentiment of port workers expressed in the January vote had been dissipated enough to call off a strike altogether. The unions have no intention to launch a genuine struggle against the company. The unions also held a “community support rally” at the Portland shipyard on April 9. These include “punch-out walkouts” where workers clock out together and gather at the end of their shifts. While defying workers’ demands for strike action, the Metal Trades Department has been organizing various stunts to let off steam that have absolutely no impact on the company’s bottom line. The current inflation rate is over 7.5 percent, making for an effective pay cut. The company’s tentative agreement included a raise of a little over 3 percent or about $2,200 a year. “Based on what the membership reported in their surveys, we’re a long ways apart on economics,” said Ben Heurung, the Western Region general representative for the Metal Trades Department.Īn average shipyard journeyman makes about $35 per hour, which is about $72,800 per year before taxes. Scott Oldham, president of the Portland Metal Trades Council and the Painters’ union representative, said, “I think their general thought was that with the price that they’re paying for gas and groceries, coupled with the inflation rate, they felt like it was not enough.” The AFL-CIO Metal Trades Department-which is made up of the Boilermakers, International Brotherhood of Electric Workers, Painters, Laborers, Sheet Metal, Pipefitters, Machinists, Teamsters and Operating Engineers-brought this proposal back for a vote on March 4, but workers rejected it again.įacing immense opposition from rank-and-file workers, union officials attempted to distance themselves from the contract they tried to foist on workers. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)Īfter the initial company offer was rejected by workers, Vigor came back with a second offer of a $2,000 ratification bonus with $1.10, $1.25, and $1.40 per hour yearly raises for the three-year contract. Results were not available by press time.Īfter that vote, Vigor and the unions will return to the bargaining table.A cargo ship stacked with shipping containers is docked at the Port of Los Angeles Wednesday, Nov. Oldham said the Metal Trades Council wants to gauge current sentiment among workers, so the union planned another strike vote for March 15. In December, members voted by 95% to approve a strike pre-authorization. They’ve also been preparing for the possibility of a strike, hosting a sign-making event at the Painters union hall in January. Unions at the shipyard have been staging actions to build solidarity among workers, including a series of “punch-out walkout” actions where workers clock out en masse and gather at the end of their shifts. “I think their general thought was that with the price that they’re paying for gas and groceries, coupled with the inflation rate, they felt like it was not enough,” said Painters union rep Scott Oldham, president of the Portland Metal Trades Council.įor an average journeyman at the shipyard making about $35 an hour, the raises in the tentative agreement worked out to a little over 3%, at a time when inflation is running above 7.5%. But members-including workers represented by the Boilermakers, IBEW, Painters, Laborers, Sheet Metal, Pipefitters, Machinists, Teamsters and Operating Engineers-voted to reject it. The Metal Trades Department brought that offer to a vote on March 4. In its most recent offer, Vigor proposed a $2,000 ratification bonus and $1.10, $1.25 and $1.40 per hour raises, while maintaining existing benefits. The company’s offer has increased since it initially offered a $1,250 signing bonus and hourly raises of $0.35, $0.60, and $0.75 in a three-year contract. The AFL-CIO Metal Trades Department represents about 900 workers at Vigor and the two sides have been negotiating since the previous contract expired Nov. Metal trades unions are holding a second strike authorization vote after shipyard workers in Portland and Seattle voted to reject a tentative agreement with Vigor Marine.
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