Workers ratify three-year deal at Cascade General


Workers ratified a new three-year contract at Cascade General Ship Repair last month by a 2-to-1 margin.

Eleven union locals representing approximately 340 workers negotiate under the umbrella of the Metal Trades Council of Portland and Vicinity. The previous contract expired June 30.

Under the new pact employees received a $200 ratification bonus with annual wage increases ranging from $1.30 an hour for journey-level workers ($18.40 an hour) to $1.15 for craftsmen ($19.75 an hour) and $1 for master craftsmen ($21.10 an hour), minus the cost of any increases for health insurance. This year, the health insurance increase was 45 cents an hour, said Lee Duncan, a business representative of Electrical Workers Local 48 and president of the Metal Trades Council.

“The split scale between journeymen, craftsmen and master craftsmen is being done with the ultimate goal of getting back to one rate, as the evaluation system that created it is no longer in existence,” Duncan said.

The peer review evaluation system was instituted six years ago as an experiment that would allow employees to work at multiple crafts if they were qualified.

Cascade General operates the largest ship repair facility on the West Coast at Swan Island in Portland.


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