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Employers want union extension during port talks
Date: July 3,2008
Updated July 2, 2008 3:24:46 PM
Bill Mongelluzzo / The JOURNAL of COMMERCE ONLINE
LONG BEACH, Calif. -- Waterfront employers on
Wednesday said the refusal by the International Longshore and
Warehouse Union to extend the previous contract while negotiations
continue on a new pact sends the wrong message to cargo owners
and the general public.
“People are watching closely what happens
at West Coast ports in terms of reliability,” said Steve
Getzug, a spokesman for the Pacific Maritime Association.
The action by the ILWU also comes at an inopportune
time because the U.S. economy is struggling, he added.
Union spokesman Craig Merrilees said employers
are over-reacting to this development in the negotiations.
“We’re focused on solving problems
at the bargaining table and getting a contract done,” Merrilees
said. “We’re not wasting time on speculation.”
Employers consider a contract extension, which
is standard operating procedure when the expiration date is reached,
to be an essential part of negotiations. With a contract in force,
longshoremen are prohibited from engaging in work slowdowns and
strikes.
Getzug noted that in the most recent negotiations
in 2002, the ILWU agreed to extend the contract on a day-to-day
basis. Finally, when an impasse was reached, the union refused
to extend the contract and work slowdowns ensued. Employers responded
by locking-out longshoremen for 10 days.
The ILWU on its Web site instructed dockworkers
to show up for the daily dispatch as usual and to refrain from
work slowdowns. If longshoremen adhere to these guidelines no
difference should be noticed on the docks regardless of how contract
negotiations proceed, union officials said.
Port activity is expected to be relatively slow
during the July 4 holiday as many veteran longshoremen take a
vacation day. Most of the work is performed by longshoremen with
less seniority.
July 5, or Bloody Thursday, is a mandatory holiday
for all longshoremen as they memorialize the date in 1934 when
police in San Francisco fired on dockworkers during a protest,
killing two men and injuring more than 100. The ILWU traces its
founding to Bloody Thursday, and West Coast ports are shut down
that day.
Spokesmen for both parties say there are still
a number of issues to be resolved in the contract negotiations.
Merrilees said strengthening safety codes is a key union demand.
Employers are pressing for productivity improvements needed to
better handle the large container ships that call regularly at
West Coast ports.
Negotiators for both sides were caucusing
separately Wednesday morning. They were expected to resume 'big
table’ negotiations later in the day, Merrilees said.
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