Clerks' Strike Doesn't Affect Port Operations
A strike by scores of clerical workers at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach hasn’t hampered cargo operations at the nation’s busiest sea complex.
The three-year contract between the office clerks, part of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, and shippers expired at midnight on June 30.
On July 1, clerks didn’t show up for work at four terminals at the two ports while about 35 strikers set up picket lines outside one terminal in Long Beach and four to five terminals in Los Angeles.
Initially, longshore workers, who belong to another local, refused to cross the early-morning picket lines, but a state labor arbitrator ruled the clerical unit had bargained in bad faith and ordered longshore workers back to work by 8 a.m.
“It had no effect on port operations,” said Phillip Sanfield, spokesperson for the Port of Los Angeles. “We are hopeful that the two sides will get together, bargain in good faith and come up with something fairly quickly.”
The Port of Long Beach also saw no disruptions after the picketers marched outside the Total Terminals International, used by Hanjin Shipping Co.
“Our terminals remain open, and they continue to operate,” said Art Wong, spokesperson for the Port of Long Beach.
No contract negotiations were scheduled for July 1 as both sides huddled to figure out their next step.
Steve Berry is the negotiator for the Harbor Employers Association, which represents 14 shippers and terminal operators. John Fageaux is the clerks’ negotiator and president of the Office Clerical Unit of the Marine Clerks, Local 63.
The two sides remain divided on terms for the next three-year contract. The 900 clerks, who process export bookings for shippers and terminals, are asking for a 21 percent raise over three years and guarantees that technology innovations will not mean their jobs are outsourced. Currently, their average salary is $96,600 plus full medical benefits and four weeks of vacation a year.
The shippers offered a 10 percent increase in monthly pension payments and protection from layoffs. But they have pushed to use new computer programs that would allow customers to access booking information. Clerks worry these new programs could lead to jobs being outsourced.
The two ports are the busiest in the nation and handle about 40 percent of all cargo containers coming into the country. But the economic downturn of the last two years has greatly affected port traffic. Container traffic at the Port of Long Beach was down 22 percent last year from 2008, and it declined 14 percent at the Port of Los Angeles.—Deborah Belgum
