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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, July 2, 2002

Dock contract extended as talks continue

By Justin Pritchard
Associated Press

A sign at the front counter of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union office in San Francisco warns workers to prepare for a strike. Despite the warning, talks between the dockworkers and shipping companies continue.

Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO — With billions of dollars in trade at stake, shipping companies and West Coast dockworkers extended their contract yesterday on a day-to-day basis as both sides promised not to force an immediate labor disruption.

Businesses and federal officials fear a strike or lockout, which would stop the flow of goods to the nation's 29 major Pacific ports on their way to store shelves across the nation.

The union representing 10,500 longshoremen has not voted to authorize a strike. And the shippers' association has promised not to lock out the dockworkers — unless they stage a work slowdown.

"We have an enormous responsibility to negotiate an agreement without any work interruption on the waterfront," said Joseph Miniace, president and chief executive officer of the Pacific Maritime Association.

Two shipping lines — Matson Navigation Co. and CSX Lines — serve Hawai'i via the West Coast, bringing in more than 90 percent of the state's goods.

Brian Taylor, CSX Lines' vice president and general manager, Hawai'i-Guam, said yesterday he was unaware of the association's plans to lock out dockworkers in the event of a work slowdown, but said he assumed all of the members would do so if a job action took place. CSX belongs to the maritime association.

"Right now there's no indication that there is any slowdown forthcoming," Taylor said, "and I don't think there's anything planned by any of the PMA members."

A Matson spokesman could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Hawai'i longshore workers and companies agreed Friday to extend their contract as talks continue.

The West Coast contract expired yesterday at 2 p.m. Hawai'i time. Ten minutes before, the two sides reconvened at their San Francisco bargaining table for the first time since Saturday.

They ended the evening by agreeing to extend the contract on a day-to-day basis and resume talks today at 11 a.m. Hawai'i time, according to the association. A union spokesman did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

In the last round of negotiations, in 1999, longshoremen kept working past the deadline, and the sides settled two weeks later.

The three-year contract between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the shippers' association covers all major U.S. Pacific ports, from San Diego to Seattle. Last year longshoremen handled $260 billion in cargo, according to the association.

With the association expecting that to double as trade with Asia surges over the next decade, West Coast ports serve as a linchpin of the nation's economy. A shutdown would have a serious ripple effect, especially as many holiday-time products are imported in summer and ever-leaner U.S. firms have slimmed inventories to cut costs.

"Can you imagine what would happen to America if there were no stuff in the malls?" said Stephen Cohen, a University of California, Berkeley regional planning professor who studied the economic impact of a port closure for the shippers' association.

Cohen cited figures showing a port shutdown of five days would cost the economy about $4.7 billion, and a 20-day shutdown would cost $48.6 billion.

"Hopefully they realize the national implications of the dispute," said Lawrence Fineran, a vice president at the Washington-based National Association of Manufacturers, which has sent letters of concern to the White House and several Cabinet departments.

With so much at stake, the White House has said it is watching, and federal lawmakers have petitioned both sides to keep the ports open.

Under federal law, President Bush can block a strike and impose an 80-day cooling-off period. The Labor Department, which has a representative monitoring the discussions, declined comment yesterday.

The union spent yesterday preparing a counterproposal to the shippers' Saturday offer, a package a union spokesman described as "designed to be rejected."

Negotiations have stalled over benefits and new cargo-handling technology for the ports. Shipping companies say they need to automate to compete more efficiently in the global economy. Union leaders say they're not against modernization — as long as it doesn't take the place of manpower.

Union officials also say the companies are trying to cut their health benefits and gut the grievance process. The companies say their offers keep the health package the envy of the working class.

Wages are another issue. A longshoreman's $80,000 average annual salary for full-time dock work rises to a $167,000 average for the most experienced foremen.

Advertiser staff writer Susan Hooper contributed to this story.