September 23, 2002

contact:

Michael Buckley

202/628-9262

202/262-3854

Transportation Labor Blasts Industry

Efforts to Delay Key Port Security Measure

Urges Congress to Help Advance Proposed Customs Service Cargo Rule

Washington, D.C. - Saying that the security of our nation's ports is

gravely threatened by industry stonewalling of a key anti-terrorism measure, transportation labor unions today wrote Congress, urging support for a new rule being proposed by the U.S. Customs Service that would require ocean carriers to submit detailed ship manifests at least 24 hours prior to loading the cargo overseas.

In a letter to members of key committees of the U.S. House and Senate,

the

AFL-CIO's Transportation Trades Department wrote that major shippers are working feverishly to kill this common sense proposal, while foreign-flag carriers are asking for an entire year delay before implementation of this rule.  Condemning this dangerous move, the TTD letter said that "the stakes are too high to delay, obfuscate, or kill this important regulation."  The letter quoted Customs Commissioner Robert Bonner as saying, "the nation's borders and the container transport system is a wide-open sieve for terrorism and weapons of mass destruction."

"Port workers are on the front lines in this war on terrorism and

would be

the first to suffer the horrible consequences of a terrorist attack," said

the letter signed by TTD Executive Director Ed Wytkind.   These workers,

having seen how the September 11 terrorist attacks devastated the airline industry and its employees, want to do everything they can to protect the maritime industry and the nation from another attack.

Transportation labor has long been at the forefront of legislative and

regulatory efforts to strengthen the security of our nation's ports, through which approximately 95 percent of the cargo entering our nation arrives. TTD and its affiliated unions have long-advocated broad reforms to maritime security that draw upon the dedication and vast experience of a skilled workforce.

"It is unconsciable that these big corporations would put their

interests

ahead of long-overdue steps to improve port security.  We demand that these industry giants stop being a dangerous roadblock to  safety on our docks," said Wytkind in announcing the release of the letter to Congress.

For a copy of TTD's letter, visit www.ttd.org

TTD represents 35 AFL-CIO transportation unions, including the

International Longshore and Warehouse Union, the International Longshoremen's Association, and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.