i did some checking: it's a lockout, which means the bosses (not
the union) decided to shut down the ports. now, the bosses claim the
union was engaged in a work slowdown, but the union spokesman says they're
only sticking to the health and safety rules...for more info on why that's
a concern, you have to look beyond the washington post. the
technology issue also has a larger story than what comes off the AP
wire. (see details below; all html links are included.)
--cathy
from the washington post:
LOS ANGELES, Sept. 27--Shipping companies shut down all the ports on the
West Coast tonight and refused to allow thousands of dockworkers to report
for their shifts as part of an escalating battle over a new labor
contract.
The union sent dockworkers orders Thursday to follow health and safety
rules at ports to the letter because it did not want any longshoremen
injured while rushing to process cargo without the safeguards of a
contract.
read
the rest
from the ILWU:
In the last six months there have been five fatalities among International
Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) waterfront workers, each more
horrific than the last...
"PMA's constant push for more productivity is making a bad problem even
worse," said ILWU International President Jim Spinosa. "The docks are
already dangerously congested, but during these negotiations several
terminal operators tried to raise their posted speed limits from 10 or 15
miles an hour to 25. But even with safe limits posted, none of the
equipment we are given to drive have speedometers. Accidents occur all too
often and that is why one of the demands we have on the table in these
negotiations is to have speedometers put in all the power industrial
trucks on the docks."
According to PMA's own Injury/Illness Analysis Report, there
were 6,719 on the job injuries on the West Coast in the less than
three-year period between July 1, 1999 and May 22, 2002 . To literally add
insult to injury, many PMA employers regularly deny compensation coverage
under the Longshore and Harbor Workers Act, a practice known as
controverting claims. While there are no statistics for the entire West
Coast on such controversions, the Dept. of Labor did a review of those
claims at the Port of Long Beach , the second largest port in the country,
and found that out of the pending injury claims there, 36 percent were
being controverted.
Longshore workers are also regularly exposed to hazardous and
toxic cargoes, often without their knowledge or proper protection. The
cumulative effects of these exposures, as well as the pervasive diesel
particulates, cause long-term illnesses that often do not show up for
years but result in reduced quality of life, shortened life spans and
higher medical costs.
read
the rest
from the ILWU:
Seattle-based SSA (Stevedoring Services of America) is the primary
roadblock to an effective West Coast longshore contract settlement, said
James Spinosa, International President of the ILWU. While most employers
want to work with us to implement new technologies, SSA is undermining
negotiations because their primary interest is breaking the union.
For more than seven years SSA has been systematically moving
hundreds of jobs away from the ports and creating new companies to avoid
union contracts. At the same time they have made a dramatic play to
dominate the 79-member PMA. As the largest stevedoring company in the
country, SSA has partnerships and agreements with many of other employers
and they have used those relationships to bolster the role of PMA
President Joe Miniace.
SSA hand picked Miniace and now he is their puppet in blocking
an agreement, Spinosa said. For years Miniace has told the press that his
primary goal for this contract was to get technological innovation. We
have a proposal on the table that would allow the employers to implement
all the latest technology he has been saying he needs. All we are asking
for is guarantees that the remaining jobs and all the jobs created by the
new technology will be ILWU jobs. But SSA and Miniace are more concerned
about using technology to outsource the work than in making a deal.
Many of the PMA members that are integrated shipping companies
responsible for transporting goods worldwide are eager to forge a contract
agreement about implementing new technologies to improve productivity,
security and safety on the docks. They have indicated that they are
willing to share the benefits of the increased productivity with union
members. Stevedoring companies like SSA that simply load and unload ships
have worked to stop a technology agreement that would benefit the shipping
companies.
read the rest