Union dock workers voted Thursday night to approve a five-year contract to work inside the EGT grain terminal at the Port of Longview, union and company officials announced Friday in a joint release.

The two sides did not release details of the collective bargaining agreement, the final piece required to move past the angriest labor dispute in more than 30 years. The agreement cover both production and maintenance work and creates a select pool of ILWU employees to work as needed at the facililty handling grain from ships, barges and trains, according to the joint release.

"Ever since the ILWU started loading this first ship, a lot of positive conversations have started taking place around town. People are happy to see we can all move forward now and do what we're here to do, which is work hard and support our community," Dan Coffman, president of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union's Longview-based Local 21, said in a written statement.

Added ILWU International President Robert McEllrath, "This agreement between EGT and the ILWU was crafted with the goals of safety, productivity, good jobs for the community, and stability for the grain industry in mind."

On Tuesday, ILWU workers docked the first ship to arrive at the EGT terminal. Four employees tied the ship up on the dock, and seven more were working inside the terminal. EGT was loading 57,000 tons of Washington spring wheat for shipment to South Korea.

About 25 workers are working at the terminal in 12-hour shifts, according to union and company sources.

"The five-year agreement is unique on the West Coast and provides us the dedicated workforce and the flexibility to run this 21st century facility efficiently and safely," EGT CEO Larry Clarke said in a prepared statement.

The ship was still docked Friday, and EGT was working through problems with the ship loading equipment, said Doug Averett, the port's director of operations. The ship will likely remain docked for the next few days, he said.

In January, Gov. Chris Gregoire announced she had brokered a settlement with the union and EGT, ending the year-long dispute and pushing the two sides into collective bargaining talks.

As part of the settlement, EGT agreed to dispatch workers from the ILWU Local 21 hall in Longview, and those workers later voted to allow the ILWU to represent them - a federal labor law requirement. EGT also agreed to drop all unfair labor claims and lawsuits that had resulted from the year-long labor dispute.

The ILWU agreed to call off protests at the grain terminal and not require EGT to keep workers on the job when no grain needs to be moved at the terminal.

A year ago, early talks between EGT and the ILWU broke off because the two sides were far apart on jobs in the control room, overtime pay and the total number of shift workers. The conflict escalated and led to hundreds of arrests, efforts to block EGT-bound trains and occasional violence. Area unions and the Occupy movement were gearing up for mass protests of the incoming ship before the settlement was announced.

ILWU officials said their contract with the port obligated EGT to hire union longshoremen to work on the terminal's 35-acre site, which is leased from the port. EGT disagreed and instead hired union contractor General Construction, which employed union operating engineers.

General has not responded to requests for comment. ILWU sources say the company and its International Union of Operating Engineers Local 701 are no longer working at the terminal.