Union workers loading grain for international shipping at the Port of Portland’s Terminal 5 inflated their own time cards and those of colleagues for more than four years, costing their employer, Columbia Export Terminal, more than $5 million, a federal lawsuit alleges.
According to a report at The Oregonian, the suit filed by Columbia Export Terminal claims members of International Longshore and Warehouse Union’s Local 8 and Local 92 engaged in racketeering by conspiring to over bill their employer.
According to the suit, some workers submitted time sheets for employees who didn’t work and weren’t even at Terminal 5. Others split shifts, with one person working half a shift and another the other half but both submitting time sheets falsely indicating they had worked full shifts. Others didn’t show up at all but their co-workers submitted time sheets showing the absent employee worked a full shift.