Dispute over workers

The situation at the plant has been simmering since November 2010, when EGT told the ILWU it would not be hiring union Longshoremen to man its giant grain plant — jobs the union had counted on and the Port of Longview had assumed would be given to union workers when it finalized its 30-year lease with the company in 2009.

However, EGT said the lease gives it the option not to hire union workers. In its lawsuit against the port, EGT wrote, "The lease did not impose any obligation whatsoever upon EGT to utilize union labor at the terminal, much less obligate EGT to utilize persons who are represented by Local 21 of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union."

The Port disputes this, saying it had a working agreement with the union that EGT knew about when it began negotiating the lease in 2007.

"If you disagree, then we have a serious dispute" that needs to be addressed in court, wrote Port Executive Director Kenneth O'Hollaren in court documents