Dock negotiators at least talking again
| • | Hotel union extends talks |
Advertiser Staff and News Services
SAN FRANCISCO — After an escalation in rhetoric that suggested imminent labor unrest at West Coast ports, dockworkers and shipping lines met yesterday in an apparent move back to the bargaining table.
Associated Press
The morning talks between select officials from the dockworkers union and their employers came a day after rumors swirled through 29 major Pacific ports that dockworkers were readying for a work slowdown. Over the weekend, talks broke off and the contract that covers 10,500 dockworkers lapsed.
With no contract in place, dockworkers such as Frances Worsham-Lige at the Port of Oakland's Middle Harbor, are threatening work slowdowns, which shipping lines say would result in a lockout.
With no contract in place, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union made a point of saying that any job action its members took would be legal. If dockworkers intentionally slow down the pace of work, shipping lines have promised a lockout.
Amid threats from both sides, officials of the Pacific Maritime Association came to union headquarters yesterday to sit down for the first time since Sunday. There was no immediate word whether those discussions went well enough to call back full negotiating teams.
Meetings again were held between union officials and the ocean carriers, represented by the Pacific Maritime Association, yesterday afternoon in San Francisco, said Jason Greenwald, a spokesman for the carriers.
Before the two sides met, a union spokesman said that a return to the table didn't preclude any job action — be it a slowdown or some other strategy.
"Unless there's some significant movement on their part, something will happen," union spokesman Steve Stallone said yesterday. "They've either got to come around to real bargaining or face the consequences."
There have been no reports of job disruptions, and Stallone said none has been orchestrated.
Officials at Matson Navigation Co., and CSX Lines also said yesterday that operations were smooth. The two shipping lines are responsible for bringing in nearly 90 percent of Hawai'i's goods.
The ILWU Local 142 in Hawai'i has agreed to extend its contract until the West Coast dispute is resolved. But with those talks bogged down over issues such as health benefits, outsourcing and technology upgrades, most businesses are hanging onto their supplies.
The West Coast contract officially expired July 1, but until Sunday had been renewed on a rolling basis. It covers ports from San Diego to Seattle that are projected to handle more than $300 billion in goods this year. Federal officials have watched the talks closely out of concern that a lockout or strike would shock the fragile economy and pose a security risk.
A major sticking point is how to implement new technology that would make ports more efficient but could ultimately cost union jobs and health benefits.
"If our workers are that essential to the national economy, why is it that an association of multibillion-dollar multinational companies can't find their way to funding the healthcare benefits of 10,000 workers?" Stallone asked.
Advertiser Staff Writer Mike Gordon contributed to this story. Associated Press and Bloomberg News reports are also included.
