Log truckers would unite with Machinists

The Northwest Log Truckers Cooperative has voted to pursue an affiliation with the International Association of Machinists, an unusual move that would team up some 500 independent log-truck drivers seeking higher pay with a major union seeking to expand membership.

The vote Saturday in Chehalis covers members in a four-state area that includes Oregon, Montana and Idaho.

But the immediate focus would be in Washington, where the union and cooperative will lobby for state legislation that would allow log-hauling companies to bargain collectively over rates with major owners of forestland.

"The market in the state of Washington is dominated by a handful of large corporate landowners," said Brian Gallagher, the cooperative's executive director. "In some places, one corporation controls the entire labor market for hauling logs. This is destroying our communities, our local economies and our future."

The cooperative is a mix of entrepreneurs who run small fleets of log trucks and independent owner-operators who drive their own rigs. Over the past decade, they say, they have been slammed by higher operating costs for fuel and parts, and fierce competition for hauling jobs.

Many of the drivers lack health insurance and pensions. Some say that in recent years they've had to work longer hours to maintain their wages.

The details of the relationship between the cooperative and the Woodworkers' affiliate of the IAM are still being worked out before a final vote on the affiliation. The union would extend benefits such as health insurance to independent truck drivers. Both sides say another key component would be tapping union officials to help negotiate hauling rates with major landowners.

"This is really plowing new ground, with the union helping independent contractors," said Chuck McRae, president of Woodworkers District Local W1 of the IAM.

Currently, antitrust law prevents log-truck contractors from banding together to jointly negotiate hauling rates.

Union and cooperative officials say such collective bargaining could be legalized through new Washington legislation — roughly modeled after a Maine law passed in 2004 — setting up a state board with binding arbitration power to settle any disputes. They say they are working with several members of the Legislature to develop a bill to be submitted in the next few weeks.

Frank Mendizabal, a Weyerhaeuser spokesman, said his company would take a look at any bill that is introduced to the Legislature, and decide whether to take a position.

Hal Bernton: 206-464-2581 or hbernton@seattletimes.com