West Coast ILWU longshore union delegates meet over contract proposal

West Coast ILWU longshore union delegates meet over contract proposal
http://www.presstelegram.com/social-affairs/20150330/west-coast-longshor...
By Karen Robes Meeks, Long Beach Press Telegram
POSTED: 03/30/15, 4:57 PM PDT
Select members of a West Coast dockworkers union this week will determine whether to move forward with a tentative labor contract that took nine months to reach in a protracted battle that nearly ground goods movement to a halt.

About 90 delegates of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union on Monday began meeting in San Francisco for a weeklong caucus to review a five-year tentative agreement reached last month by their bargaining team and employers.

The delegates, consisting of elected members of the rank and file, will decide whether to recommend or reject the proposal to the full membership.

If recommended by the majority of delegates, the tentative contract would be mailed to each member. Meetings would then be held at local union halls and end with a secret ballot ratification vote by the membership. A majority of the 20,000 ILWU members at 29 West Coast ports — including the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports — is needed to ratify the contract.

Details of the proposal — which was reached Feb. 20 with the help of Labor Secretary Tom Perez and a federal mediator — were not released pending ratification. Representatives with the ILWU and PMA declined to comment Monday.

But both sides have publicly said they did reach tentative contract resolutions on health benefits and jurisdictional issues related to the maintenance and repair of chassis, the wheeled metal frames needed to move cargo containers.

Much is at stake for customers and those along the supply chain.

The congestion — caused by the arrival of bigger ships carrying more cargo and uneven distribution of chassis and worsened by contentious contract talks — has been hammering West Coast ports, especially the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the nation’s busiest seaport complex handling 40 percent of U.S. imports.

Not helping matters were the labor talks, which created months of productivity slowdowns. The congestion left more than two dozen ships at sea, long truck lines, clogged terminals and weeks-long delays that forced customers to reroute cargo to other ports or ship products by air.

Jock O’Connell, international trade adviser for Beacon Economics, said further congestion issues could create declines in cargo regionally and displace railroad, trucking and other blue-collared jobs along the supply chain.

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“They are most at risk for getting sidelined economically,” he said.

Meanwhile, the twin ports seem to be making a dent in clearing congestion. The Marine Exchange of Southern California on Monday reported 11 container ships at anchor, waiting for a berth. This is fewer than the 28 container ships left stranded March 14.

Last week, ILWU Local 13 President Bobby Olvera reiterated to the Long Beach Harbor Commission the union’s commitment to clearing the backlog.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti stressed the importance of getting this contract approved by the rank and file.

“The Port of L.A. is the nation’s No. 1 port and a powerful driver of our regional economy, which is why we worked with dockworkers and shippers to reach this tentative agreement,” Garcetti said. “I urge a yes vote to ratify this agreement so we can make our ports the best in the world and move our economy forward.”

Contact Karen Robes Meeks at 562-714-2088.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Karen Robes Meeks
Newspaper reporter with more than a decade of experience in journalism. I cover trade and transportation. Reach the author at karen.robes@langnews.com or follow Karen on Twitter: karenmeekspt.