Aug 7 (Reuters) – The International Longshore and Warehouse
Union (ILWU) filed a lawsuit against the Port of Portland,
claiming the port violated the Oregon Public Records Act by
charging the union $200,000 for public records searches.
ILWU submitted public records requests in June, September
and December 2012. It said it was charged “arbitrary and
excessive” fees to find the records and told further fees would
be assessed for lawyers to review and segregate the records
before release, the union said in a statement on Wednesday.
The lawsuit, filed on July 25 in Multnomah County circuit
court, was the latest action in a heated labor battle pitting
the ILWU against ports and grain exporters in the U.S. Pacific
Northwest.
ILWU wants the port to waive or reduce the fees and release
the requested information. It also wants the court to issue an
order declaring the port in violation of the public records act.
The Port of Portland said it never denied access to records
and that the high fees were due to the broad scope of the
information requests which will take hundreds of hours to
compile.
The port offered to set up a payment plan but has not
received a response from the ILWU, the port said in an emailed
statement.
(Reporting by Karl Plume in Chicago; editing by Andrew Hay)
