Longshoremen make concession
By Edvard Pettersson
Bloomberg News Service
The union representing about 10,000 dockworkers at ports on the West Coast offered a proposal to allow new technology at the ports, as contract talks with ocean carriers have entered a third month.
Associated Press
The union will allow data about cargo from outside the ports to go directly into the terminals' computer system without being manually reentered by union members, Steve Stallone, a spokesman for the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, said in an interview.
Dispatcher Debbie Dean handed out daily work slips to longshoremen (who asked not to be identified) at the union hall in San Francisco last month. The dockworkers are in contract talks with West Coast carriers.
The union and the carriers have been negotiating a new three-year contract since May 13.
Among the issues separating the sides is the carriers' desire to automate some tasks performed by union members. The carriers say that technology improvements are needed to make the ports more efficient.
The carriers association is studying the proposal and was trying to give the union an answer yesterday, said Steve Sugerman, a spokesman for the Pacific Maritime Association, which represents the carriers.
The ports of California, Oregon and Washington handle about 42 percent of the U.S. waterborne trade, and a 10-day shutdown of the ports could cost the U.S. economy as much as $19.4 billion, according to a study by consulting firm Martin Associates. The previous contract expired July 1 and the sides renewed it for 24 hours increments since then.
"We're not talking about people being laid off," Stallone said. "The issue is how many fewer jobs for marine clerks will be listed at the dispatch hall. We could be looking at a 30 percent reduction in the near term."
There are about 1,600 clerks on the West Coast and some may work fewer hours, Stallone said.
In exchange for its concession, the union wants its members to perform all new jobs created by information technology departments at the ports as well as control over the planning of ships, rails and container yards, 50 percent of which work is now done by outside contractors, Stallone said.
