September 20, 2002

ILWU accuses PMA of creating crisis,

illegally threatening lockout

In the midst of recent progress in the West Coast longshore contract negotiations, the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) is manufacturing a crisis to sabotage the talks. PMA CEO Joe Miniace has been falsely accusing the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) of engaging in a slowdown. Miniace knows the real problem is the lack of personnel, especially highly trained workers, to fill all the jobs during the busiest time in the history of the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the two largest ports in the country.

            The PMA created this crisis by whipping up hysteria over a possible longshore strike and encouraging shippers and retailers to move all their goods as soon as possible. This caused such a crush of cargo that the port’s infrastructure can’t handle it and there are not enough workers to fill all the jobs. It is PMA’s responsibility to train sufficient workers and the union is constantly requesting more training. But the PMA resists offering more training and registering more workers to cover the jobs. The employers would rather blame the union and threaten to close the ports than solve this simple problem. When a similar labor shortage occurred in Southern California in 1997, PMA asked for and received the union’s cooperation in sending workers from less-busy ports to Southern California to help out.

            But PMA is taking a local issue and blowing it into a national crisis. The PMA has taken this provocative and reckless action in retaliation for the ILWU’s adherence to established safety rules mandated by the industry arbitrator at a single facility operated by Stevedoring Services of America (SSA) in Long Beach, California.

In response to recent industrial accidents, including the death of a worker this month at the SSA facility, the ILWU is insisting that that SSA comply with an arbitration decision issued by the West Coast Arbitrator mandating that only industry-trained and fully registered workers operate the massive “tophandler” machinery, which has been the source of recent deaths and injuries on the waterfront. In a letter this week to PMA, ILWU President Jim Spinosa stated, “The industry has seen five people die from industrial accidents since the start of these negotiations. This, in addition to the numerous non-lethal injuries, requires that the Coast Parties be more vigilant about enforcing existing health and safety rules.”  

While adherence to important safety and worker-qualification rules has reduced the number of qualified tophandler operators for dispatch to the SSA facility, SSA has a reserve of steady crane operators who are available to fill any needed positions. However, SSA has chosen, for unknown reasons, to have available steady operators stay home rather than fill the open jobs.

Perhaps most inexplicably, SSA failed to attend a labor-management meeting attended by other PMA employers and the ILWU on Thursday afternoon, which was held specifically to try to address SSA’s complaints of labor shortages. SSA’s no-show surprised both labor and management representatives in attendance and prevented any resolution of the problems at the SSA Long Beach facility.

PMA and SSA are using the easily fixable shortage of qualified “tophandler” operators, limited to a single SSA facility in Long Beach, to argue for the total closure of all waterfront terminals in the Port of Long Beach as well as the Port of Los Angeles. This is being done while ILWU port workers are handling cargo flow 15 percent greater than average and when the negotiating parties are making significant progress this week on contract provisions for new technologies and the free flow of data in the ports.

The ILWU membership, however, is solidly united in opposition to the employers’ provocations and is determined to pursue all lawful means for obtaining a fair contract settlement as soon as possible.

On Thursday, Sept. 19, 2002, the ILWU filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board against PMA and SSA over the unlawful notice of lockout and several other violations, including SSA’s threats to fire workers unless the union agrees to economic concessions unique to SSA.

On Thursday, Sept. 19 PMA again ordered more workers than are available for Friday morning’s shift. While an average call for crane operators out of the dispatch hall is about 60-80 per shift, the PMA ordered 83. (The majority of the crane operators in the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are steady workers who are not dispatched out of the hall.) Only 14 certified crane operators were available, and the local could only cover another 126 of the jobs by filling them with Class A longshore workers who are not trained and certified as crane operators. Still 43 positions were left unfilled.

The ILWU continues to work as normal and to stay at the bargaining table in search of an agreement. The two parties’ Technology Subcommittees are meeting at the PMA’s offices in San Francisco today. The ILWU is committed to meet every day until a solution is found.

ILWU President James Spinosa stated today, “The ILWU membership will not be intimidated or coerced by the PMA employers’ unjustified and unlawful, hostile actions. Nor will the union be deterred from our efforts to obtain a fair and equitable contract settlement for all port workers.”

For more information contact ILWU Communications Director Steve Stallone at 415-775-0533 (office) or 510-390-4748 (cell) or visit www.ilwu.org.

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