ILWU Local 10 Loses APL Maintenance Work at Oakland

ILWU Local 10 Loses APL Maintenance Work at Oakland
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Terminal

Bill Mongelluzzo, Senior Editor | Jul 12, 2013 3:48PM EDT

A work stoppage that shut down the SSA Marine terminal at the Port of Oakland for one shift this week apparently was in vain as the International Longshore and Warehouse Union will lose its equipment maintenance and repair work on APL equipment to the International Association of Machinists.

The terminal won an arbitration ruling regarding the work stoppage, and dockworkers returned to their jobs for the evening shift on Tuesday, SSA Marine Chief Operating Officer Ed DeNike said on Friday.

The International Association of Machinists will perform M&R work on APL equipment now that the Singapore carrier’s vessels will call at the SSA terminal, DeNike said.

Unlike cargo-handling at West Coast container terminals, which falls under the exclusive jurisdiction of the ILWU, different unions perform equipment M&R work depending on contracts negotiated over the years. Inter-union jurisdictional fights often occur when business transactions change.

That is what happened this week at the Port of Oakland when APL moved out of its terminal, a move that had been in the works for months. The ILWU for years had performed M&R work at the APL terminal.

SSA has a contract with the IAM for maintenance work. With the APL vessels now calling at the SSA terminal, the terminal operator turned the new APL work over to the machinists union.

Longshoremen Tuesday morning picketed the SSA terminal, shutting down the facility for the day shift, DeNike said. SSA brought the issue to the local arbitrator under the grievance procedures of the waterfront contract, and the arbitrator ruled that the picket was not bona fide, so dockworkers returned to their jobs for the evening shift, he said.

An ILWU local official could not be reached for comment.

Contact Bill Mongelluzzo at bmongelluzzo@joc.com and follow him at twitter.com/billmongelluzzo.