Investigation begins into N.J., N.Y. port walkout, as dockworkers return "Union leaders said publicly they too had been caught unawares that their members had been planning to walk off the job, but cited growing anger by dockworkers over what they see as

Investigation begins into N.J., N.Y. port walkout, as dockworkers return "Union leaders said publicly they too had been caught unawares that their members had been planning to walk off the job, but cited growing anger by dockworkers over what they see as a growing "intrusion into their livelihoods" by waterfront commission, which licenses longshoremen."

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2016/02/investigation_begins_into_nj_ny...

By Ted Sherman
February 01, 2016 at 5:30 AM, updated February 01, 2016 at 10:27 AM

NEWARK—Cargo operations at the region's ports resumed over the weekend, as the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor said it was opening an investigation into who orchestrated what it called an illegal walkout on Friday.

Port officials expect a normal workday today, after dockworkers walked off the job without warning on Friday, shutting down the busiest waterfront on the East Coast.

The longshoremen came back Friday night and worked over the weekend, said Steve Coleman, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which serves as the landlord for the New York Harbor terminal areas in the two states.

"They worked ships Friday night and yesterday," said Coleman.

While many of the terminals handling cargo from the ships that call on Port Newark and the other terminals in the region are typically closed to truckers on the weekend, there were some operations on Saturday and Sunday. Coleman said Global Container Terminal in Bayonne put in extra hours in advance of the walkout to make up for the snow days, and was open Sunday with no problems.

"We expect a normal day tomorrow and will have normal Port Authority Police Department staffing at the terminals to assist with traffic control, which is typically an issue in the morning," he said.

Surprise walkout by dockworks shuts down port

The move, which quickly led to huge truck backlogs, caught port officials, terminal operators and even union executives unaware.
Meanwhile, the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor, which can lift a dockworker's license to work for any number of rules violations, said it has opened a probe into what sparked the sudden day-long labor action, and who may have been responsible.

"We have begun an investigation as to who ordered the illegal walkout and why," said Walter Arsenault, the commission's executive director. "We expect normal operations in the port tomorrow. Commission detectives will be in the port as they always are."

The New York Shipping Association, which represents the terminal operators, ocean carriers, and stevedores, said Monday should be a normal day.

"The next step is obviously to sit down and try and resolve the outstanding points," said NYSA spokeswoman Beverly Fedorko. "We can't get into the specific details of the discussions, but they all have to do with work preservation."

A union spokesman did not respond to requests for comment on Sunday. Some 4,000 union members work at the port.

The dockworkers, who walked off the job at about 10 a.m on Friday, returned that evening after an arbitrator issued a finding that the work stoppage represented a contract violation, leading the International Longshoremen's Association to urge its members to return to "accept orders and return to work immediately."

The Port of New York & New Jersey is the East Coast's busiest port, not least because of its location in a consumer market of 25 million people. So what are the products that arrive from the Middle East, China and elsewhere in the holds of tankers and stacked on the decks of container ships? Here are the region's top 10 imports, by dollar value, for the first half of 2015, as compiled by the Port Authority. (John Munson | NJ Advance Media)
Steve Strunsky | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Much of what comes into the port follows a tight logistics schedule so that things do not sit in warehouses for any length of time, noted Richard Barone, vice president for transportation at the Regional Plan Association, which examines transportation, environmental and economic development issues in the Northeast.

"There isn't much leeway when there is a stoppage like this," he said. "It could be very serious."

He pointed to the 2004 strike by dockworkers at Port of Los Angeles and Long Beach, shutting down the port for an entire week. Barone said the Congressional Budget Office later estimated the economic losses at $150 million per day. More recently, a protracted labor dispute last year again jammed ship traffic at ports along the West Coast, affecting not only imports coming into the United States, but tons of fresh fruits and vegetables bound for Asian markets.

At the same time, Barone said about 80 percent of the goods that come into the New York area ports stay in the metropolitan area. "They feed us, clothe us, and are used in our daily lives," he said.

Kurt Krummenacker, vice president and senior credit officer for Moody's Investors Service, said the terminal operators would bear most of the risk of any long-term strike.

"We are continuing to monitor the situation and identify the underlying labor issues," he said.
It is still unclear exactly what precipitated the walkout, which caught just about everyone at the port by surprise. The NYSA has an existing collective bargaining agreement with the ILA and had not been negotiating with the powerful union.

Union leaders said publicly they too had been caught unawares that their members had been planning to walk off the job, but cited growing anger by dockworkers over what they see as a growing "intrusion into their livelihoods" by waterfront commission, which licenses longshoremen.

Both the union and the shipping association have frequently chafed at the commission's regulations, which both say has held up hiring and threatens a labor shortage. Last year, the New Jersey Legislature moved to pull the state out of the commission, which had also come under attack for internal abuses by the New York Inspector General in 2009 that led to an overhaul of the agency. Gov. Chris Christie, however vetoed the measure.

The bi-state commission, created more than 60 years ago, is tasked with keeping out corruption and mob control on the docks, and has been involved in a number of criminal actions in recent years charging union members in a mob-tied shakedown of other workers.

Economic impact
Any long-term work stoppage at the sprawling port of New York Harbor potentially could cause billions in economic losses.

The combined terminals of New York Harbor—which include Port Newark, the Elizabeth-Port Authority Marine Terminal, the Howland Hook Marine Terminal, the Brooklyn-Port Authority Marine Terminal, the Red Hook Container Terminal, and the Port Jersey Port Authority Marine Terminal—handle more than 3.3 million cargo containers a year, which represents some $200 billion in products ranging from food and clothes to furniture and cars.

Ted Sherman may be reached at tsherman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TedShermanSL. Find NJ.com on Facebook.