Issue 363, September 20, 2002
As reported by the Journal of Commerce today at 8:59 a.m. ET, Friday, September 20, 2002, "West Coast Port Shutdown Averted"
- by Bill Mongelluzzo

LOS ANGELES - A shutdown of the nation's largest port complex was narrowly averted Thursday night when the International Longshore and Warehouse Union ended its work slowdown at the Stevedoring Services of America terminal in Long Beach.

The Pacific Maritime Association, which represents shipping lines and terminal operators, threatened to lock out the ILWU at the entire Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex if the union did not dispatch enough skilled equipment operators to SSA by 8 a.m. local time on Friday.

During a telephone press conference late Thursday afternoon, PMA President Joseph Miniace said the ILWU for four straight days had refused to dispatch enough longshoremen to operate top-pick and transtainer equipment at SSA's Pacific Container Terminal in Long Beach, effectively shutting the terminal down. Miniace indicated a lock-out was likely.

However, a federal mediator contacted Miniace and ILWU President James Spinosa and urged both parties to avoid a disruption of services at Los Angeles-Long Beach, which handles about 69 percent of the container cargo on the West Coast and more than one-third of the nation's container volume.

The ILWU agreed to fulfill SSA's labor requirements for the 6 p.m. shift Thursday, and the employers called off their "defensive action."

"After a week of withholding labor, the union dispatched workers as PMA requested," Miniace said. "This is a positive sign, and I am hopeful this signals that the ILWU and PMA will be able to work together toward a new coastwide contract that positions our ports for growth in the new century," he said. The ILWU did not return phone calls Thursday.

This week's game of brinkmanship was the first serious threat to labor peace, and the first job action since the ILWU and PMA began negotiations for a new waterfront contract on May 13.

The ILWU is involved in a bitter jurisdictional dispute with the International Association of Machinists at Pier A, another Long Beach terminal which SSA is preparing to take over later this year. SSA had indicated it would assign about 50 jobs involving maintenance and repair of equipment to the IAM.

It appeared that the AFL-CIO last weekend had brokered a deal between the ILWU and IAM, but on Monday the longshore union began short-changing SSA on skilled labor at its Pacific Container Terminal where China Ocean Shipping Co. calls.

The ILWU, on its Web site and in a press release, charged SSA with obstructing the coastwide contract negotiations.

Miniace said the ILWU's "appetite for expanding its jurisdiction" was one of the reasons why it withheld labor from SSA but fulfilled the labor requirements for at least a dozen other terminal operators in the Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex.

Spinosa had successfully used a similar "divide and conquer" strategy 10 years ago when he was president of ILWU Local 63 in Southern California, Miniace said. Spinosa would single out one terminal operator for organizing efforts, and when that employer caved in, others would follow, Miniace said.

The PMA won't buckle to the same tactics during the current contract talks, Miniace said. Employers will continue to press for meaningful contract changes that allow for greater productivity at West Coast ports.

Bill Mongelluzzo can be reached at bmongelluzzo@joc.com.

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