By Melvin Mackay ILWU Local 10 | Photo courtesy of ilwu.org

In late 2018, the Oakland A’s, the Mayor of Oakland, Alameda County Supervisors, building and construction trades, local business leaders, state legislators, and the Commissioners at the Port of Oakland formed an impressive and formidable unified front when all of them joined together to announce that they wanted to eliminate a large swath of the working, industrial Oakland waterfront.   This elimination was to have taken place to accommodate the plan of the billionaire owner of the Oakland A’s, John Fisher, to turn Howard Terminal into a miniature version of the gentrified San Francisco waterfront – complete with new condominiums, office towers, and hotels, in addition to a baseball stadium meant to compete with the Giants’ stadium across the Bay.

The A’s envisioned fans sailing in the Oakland navigational channel with an “armada” of boats, watching fireworks and listening to music on party barges in the turning basin, shifting freight rail traffic to non-game days, and replacing truck routes with bicycle lanes and new sidewalks for fans – and shutting down a facility under longshore jurisdiction and the home of a PMA-ILWU training center.  The stadium project also threatened the viability of cargo movements at other terminals in Oakland, increased congestion, and the promise of a future larger turning basin, which is critical to maintaining the Port of Oakland’s competitiveness. 

In the face of overwhelming political odds, the ILWU stood firm and fought for its members.  We also became a founding member of an unprecedented coalition of every major waterfront group that had a stake in the future of the Port of Oakland.  This group was made up of a whole swath of maritime labor, including ILWU locals, the Inlandboatmen’s Union (IBU), Masters, Mates & Pilots (MM&P), Marine Engineers Beneficial Association, Marine Firemen, and more. We began meeting first at the IBU hall in San Francisco and then at MM&P in Oakland.  Joining us were maritime, trucking, and railroad groups, including the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association, Harbor Trucking Association, California Trucking Association, and the Union Pacific Railroad, plus individual local Oakland companies like Schnitzer Steel and GSC Logistics, Cool Fresh, and BNSF Railroad.

We named ourselves the East Oakland Stadium Alliance (EOSA) and hired a public affairs firm, Berg Davis, led by Jessica Berg and Evette Davis.   EOSA was founded in response to the Oakland A’s plans for a private ballpark and luxury real estate development at Howard Terminal. We led with the belief that it is in the best interest of Oakland residents, the seaport, the Oakland A’s, and its fans for a new, state-of-the-art major league baseball stadium to be constructed at the Coliseum site in East Oakland.   With that as our goal, we also worked closely with other community and environmental groups in Oakland, including progressive Democratic clubs, the Oakland NAACP, the Sierra Club, Bay Keeper, Save the Bay, and various churches and other active grassroots volunteers.   We were aided by the fact that A’s owner, John Fisher, has been a funder of groups attempting to privatize Oakland schools and promote school privatization nationally, which brought several other activists and the Oakland Education Association to rally with us against more privatization in Oakland.

We were not afraid to take on the powerful interests intent on building a stadium on the Oakland waterfront. Working with the other maritime stakeholders, we set out to protect our jobs and jurisdiction.  When we started EOSA, people outside of the waterfront gave us long odds of stopping this development.  They saw the ILWU and our industry partners as the David against an unstoppable Goliath. We were told this was a done deal. But the coalition persisted in our fight for almost 5 years. Opinion polls showed that the project was vulnerable to public concerns over the use of taxpayer funds for this project – a prerequisite of Fisher to make the project work.  We participated in two different lawsuits against the A’s project, one against the City of Oakland’s Environmental Impact Report and the other against the State of California’s Bay Conservation Development Commission (BCDC), both of which are still pending, and which ultimately threw significant monkey wrenches into the overly-optimistic development timelines for the project. 

Throughout these fights, the ILWU Locals 6, 10, 34, 75, 91, and the IBU were present so that voices could be heard as was Sara Nelson, President of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO.

Mike Parent and Joulene Parent from ILWU Canada came to one of our rallies to show support and solidarity to prevent Howard Terminal from becoming a baseball stadium, hotel, and entertainment complex. We were able to bring out the rank and file and the community. We made sure the volume at the Port Of Oakland was turned up loud so that our voices were heard, and our message was clear: The Port of Oakland is vital to the region’s economy and not for sale. 

We brought hundreds of people to City Council meetings, state meetings of the BCDC, rallies, press events, tours, and more.   Longshore labor voices were necessary to counter other labor voices in the building and construction trades and the existing union labor at the current Coliseum that realized that Fisher’s tactic of threatening to move the team and his “Howard Terminal or Bust” rhetoric wasn’t just posturing.  Fisher intentionally set up labor vs. labor fights, city vs. city competition, and business vs. business in his chase for maximum public subsidies for his stadium.

In the end and against the odds, the A’s ultimately abandoned their quest to gentrify the Oakland waterfront.  The EOSA coalition outlasted and outfought the A’s. Our coalition of labor and community groups was built on the  ILWU’s conviction that our jobs on the waterfront are unique, irreplaceable, and critical to the economic health of the entire Bay Area.

Although the A’s move to Las Vegas is all but inevitable with the recent unanimous vote by Major League Baseball in favor of the team’s relocation, we must remain vigilant to ensure no new efforts are made by the City and the Port of Oakland to once again attempt to repurpose maritime industrial property for housing or entertainment venues.   Our coalition of maritime, transportation, logistics, labor, and community stakeholders can continue working towards one common goal: the long-term viability of the Port of Oakland and ensuring that the working waterfront continues to be a vibrant hub of Oakland and the Bay Area economy.

The post ILWU, Community Coalition, Defeats Proposed Baseball Stadium on Oakland Waterfront first appeared on Labor Today.

The ILWU stands in solidarity with the United Auto Workers who are fighting for fair wages that reflect the value of their hard work, skill, and the enormous profits they generate for the Big Three automakers and for a work-life balance that allows workers to spend time with their families.

“For too long, the working class has been denied a fair share of the wealth that their labor produces,” said ILWU International President Willie Adams. “Workers are fed up watching the profits they produce go directly into the pockets of CEOs while their own piece of the pie gets smaller. The UAW membership is standing up against corporate greed and fighting for a fair and equitable contract and the ILWU stands with the UAW. An injury to one is an injury to all.”

The post ILWU Solidarity Statement with UAW Workers first appeared on Labor Today.

The ILWU is commemorating Labor Day by honoring the contributions of all workers who shape the backbone of our great nation and together are responsible for its economic success. Today, we thank those who stood with us to achieve a contract that recognizes the important role longshore workers play in the success of our West Coast ports and in the distinction of our ports being America’s premier gateways for global trade. We also proudly stand with those workers who find themselves on picket lines this holiday demanding the wages, benefits, and respect that every American worker deserves.

The post ILWU Statement for Labor Day 2023 first appeared on Labor Today.

After four days of discussion and debate, the Coast Longshore Division’s Contract Caucus voted unanimously on July 21 to send the tentative agreement (TA) on a new six-year contract to the membership for a ratification vote. The Contract Caucus is the first step in the Longshore Division’s democratic, contract ratification process.

The nearly 100 elected delegates representing 29 longshore and clerk locals along the West Coast met from January 31-February 11, 2022 to give direction to the Negotiating Committee on bargaining demands for the new contract. The delegates reconvened in Long Beach July 17-22 to debate the TA, which was reached after approximately 13 months of negotiations with the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA). The caucus delegates reviewed the TA section by section and had the opportunity to discuss every aspect of the contract.

After the vote by the caucus, copies of the TA were sent to all longshore and clerk locals and mailed to longshore and clerk registrants in a special edition of the Dispatcher. The TA was then presented at local union stop-work meetings where members had the opportunity to discuss and debate the TA.

“The ILWU has always been a rank-and-file union and the decision now rests with the Longshore Division membership,” said ILWU International President Willie Adams.

Observers and guests

The Contract Caucus was open to  registered longshore and clerk  to observe. Workers came from as far away as Tacoma and Seattle. Among the guests and fraternal delegates were ILWU President Emeritus James Spinoza and ILWU President Emeritus Robert McEllrath, nearly 80 members of the Hawaii Longshore Division, Dennis Young and Jeff Hancock from the Alaska Longshore Division, more than 20 pensioners, and guests from the Construction Forestry Maritime Mining and Energy Union (CFMMEU), the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF), the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA), and the Maritime Union of New Zealand (MUNZ).

Dedications

The caucus was dedicated to the memories of those who recently passed. Delegates took to the mic to read into the record the names of members and pensioners whom we have lost over the past year.

Morning speakers

On the first day of the caucus, before delegates started discussing the TA, they heard from several speakers starting with a video message sent by Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su who assisted in the final stages of the negotiations. Acting Secretary Su discussed the importance of the collective bargaining process, thanked the Negotiating Committee for their hard work, and thanked caucus delegates for the important role they play in the ratification process.

“This administration is committed to the right of workers to form a union, and understand the importance of the union in bargaining a contract, and the power of the members to decide whether that contract is fair,” Su said. “President Biden and I know that the collective bargaining process is the best way to reach mutually beneficial solutions, and get workers the wages, benefits, and quality of life you deserve.”

FMC Commissioner Max Vekich

Following Acting Secretary Su, Local 52 pensioner, and current Commissioner on Federal Maritime Commission (FMC), Max Vekich recounted his intertwined careers in politics and the longshore industry—from his days an assembly member in Washington State to his role as the Chair of the Longshore Division’s Legislative Committee, and eventually his appointment as FMC Commissioner.

“Senator Maria Cantwell and Willie Adams are the godparents of me being on the FMC,” Vekich said. Commissioner Vekich also spoke about the important work the FMC does to regulate foreign carriers.

Executive Directors Cordero and Seroka

Following Commissioner Vekich, the delegates heard from Port of Long Beach Executive Director Mario Cordero and Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka.

“It’s the year of negotiations when it comes to labor,” Cordero said, noting the ongoing struggle by workers for fair wages in many industries from UPS and hotel workers to writers and actors.  “American workers are now getting the benefit of what they should have been receiving for many years. I think it’s good for democracy. Wages now appear to be moving up a little bit and there is more equity for workers.”

Seroka spoke about the positive signs on the horizon for continued growth in container volume on the West Coast. He said the American economy is resilient and the fear of recession some economists predicted is not going to materialize. He also noted the importance of California’s recently passed infrastructure package which includes $1.5 billion in funding for infrastructure in California’s 11 municipal ports.

Remarks by Pres. Adams

President Adams gave a timeline of the key milestones and sticking points during the 13-month negotiations. He thanked all of the solidarity delegations from dockworkers around the world that came in to sit in on negotiations and show their support. Pres. Adams also thanked the entire Negotiating Committee and the Safety Committee.  “If I had to do it again, I would do it with this committee. We were in a foxhole, and they gave everything,” Adams said.

Pres. Adams asked delegates to question the Negotiating Committee and to evaluate the merits of the entire document. “This contract is for the rank-and-file,” he said.  “We made gains. There is a little bit in here for everyone. We didn’t ask the employer for anything. We went in there and took it.”

International guests

The Construction Forestry Maritime Mining and Energy Union (CFMMEU) National Secretary Chris Cain brought greetings from Australia. He spoke about the ties that unite the ILWU and the CFMMEU including the militant, rank-and-file nature of both unions and their commitment to fighting for real gains for the working class.

“We don’t just talk about disputes. Our unions help the working class. Our unions fight for working-class people around the world,” Cain said. “What is global solidarity? Is it just words? We want decent wages. We want decent conditions in employment. We want a decent pension for when we retire, and we want a world that lives in peace. That is what we want. And we’ve got to fight for it.”

Cain was followed by Craig Harrison from the Maritime Union of New Zealand who spoke about the long history between the ILWU and MUNZ and the important acts of solidarity from the ILWU particularly during the Ports of Auckland dispute.

ITF President Paddy Crumlin spoke about the importance of union democracy and the power of militant unionism to transform society by offering an alternative vision for the world.

“It’s going to be your decision to approve or reject the contract like it always has been,” Crumlin said. “What a union you’ve built in a world of corruption, selfishness, and bigotry, where we can come together as human beings, and set aside our differences—racial differences,  age, and ethnicity, and forge a different type of vision for humanity.”

Crumlin also touched on the issue of automation saying it is a mechanism employers use to attack workers.

“Automation isn’t about productivity, it’s about union busting. It’s not faster, it’s not cheaper. It’s not a worthy investment for all those shareholders,” said Crumlin. “It doesn’t create wealth. It’s designed to diminish the industrial rights of the working men and women of the waterfront here on the West Coast of America, on the East Coast of America, in Australia, in Europe, and around the world.”

Hawaii Longshore Division

Hawaii Longshore Division Director Dustin Dawson spoke briefly, explaining that they brought a large delegation of Hawaii longshore workers to the caucus in order to educate a new generation and so they can benefit from the knowledge and experience of everyone in the room. He encouraged delegates to take time to speak with the Hawaiian longshore workers and share stories with them.

Hollywood to the docks

On Thursday morning, the caucus heard from actor Sean Astin, whose career has spanned four decades. Astin is best known for his portrayal of Samwise Gamgee in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but he addressed the caucus as a fellow union member, worker, and labor activist. He is a member of the Negotiating Committee for SAG-AFTRA, the union that represents film and television workers. They are currently striking their employer for fair wages and to protect future work for their members—work that is currently being threatened by automation and artificial intelligence (AI).

SAG-AFTRA went on strike on July 14th after failing to reach an agreement with their employer group, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). The Writers Guild of America (WGA) has been on strike against the same employers since May 2. The strike marks the first time that actors have initiated a labor dispute since 1980 and the first time since 1960 that both actors and writers have struck their employer simultaneously.

Astin spoke about first meeting longshore workers in Seattle through his union activism and thanked ILWU members for their work during COVID.

“I’m so grateful for what you all were able to do through sheer guts and bravery during COVID to keep going when the country needed you. It should not take employers 13 months to acknowledge in any contract the value you bring to this world,” Astin said.

Astin recounted his experience at the bargaining table and his frustrations with the employer group’s unwillingness to engage their reasonable proposals. He noted that the overwhelming majority of actors struggle just to make ends meet while studios and streaming services are raking in massive profits and executives are receiving exorbitant salaries.

“People think of actors as Tom Cruise and the upper echelon of movie stars. We have 160,000 people in our union and 87 percent don’t make the annual $26,000 threshold for health insurance benefits. We are mostly an out-of-work, underworked, and working-class group of people,” Astin explained. “There comes a time when you have to determine for yourself what you’re worth and we’ve done that. For the last 15 or 20 years there’s been political infighting in our union. That’s over. We are 100 percent united.”

Actors, like workers in other industries throughout the economy, including longshore, are fighting to preserve work for future generations by putting guard rails in the use of automation technologies and artificial intelligence that employers are trying to deploy, not to increase efficiency but to eliminate jobs and more important directly attack the power of workers and their unions.

“We don’t take any job action or strike lightly. People are already hurting, but in our industry, we’ve undergone so many changes. There is always some technological change that recalibrates what our industry does in relationship to its workers,” Astin said, “but this moment we’re in right now with AI, we feel like we’re on the frontlines of this fight with you, the rest of labor and the rest of humanity. If we don’t start organizing ourselves and putting some fences on that technology, our grandkids are going to be living in a bot-driven world wondering why we failed them.”

Solidarity with striking hotel workers

The caucus also heard from UNITE-HERE Local 11 Co-President Ada Briceño who spoke about the ongoing strike by hotel workers in Southern California.

Presidents Emeritus

The caucus was then addressed by ILWU President Emeritus James Spinoza and President Emeritus Robert McEllrath.

Spinoza reflected on the vast changes in technology on the waterfront over his career.  “I came on the waterfront in 1969,” Spinoza said. “We were driving forklifts in the holds of ships, small little liberty ships—small compared to what is out there today. The ships are getting bigger and bigger and running even with fewer crew members because of AI and everything else.

“Our best deterrent from the employers moving so fast on this robotics is by doing a good job. We break records every year. We’ll continue to break it as long as you stay vigilant and understand that it’s critical to do a good job out there to protect our work.”

Spinoza was followed by McEllrath who spoke about how each contract builds and improves upon the last one.

“Every contract is a little different,” McEllrath said. “You get this one, five years from now, you’re going to have another one, and you’re going to stack it on top. I see new faces, new leadership, young people that will take over. Remember that you’re building and building each contract.”

Honors for Russ Bargmann

Retired Research Director Russ Bargmann was honored by the Coast Committee for his nearly 50 years of service to the ILWU and the Longshore Division.

ILWU International Vice President (Mainland) Bobby Olvera presented Russ with his decades-old wooden inbox, signed by the Coast Committee, the Coast Longshore Division staff, and the Negotiating Committee. Coast Committeemen Cam Williams and Frank Ponce De Leon presented Russ with a bronze fist holding a cargo hook cast by Local 19 pensioner Ron Gustin.

“Russ exemplifies what this organization is about,” said President Adams. “He could have made more money doing another job, but there’s something about giving back to the working class.”

Bargmann thanked the Longshore Division for the opportunity to serve the ILWU. He recounted how he was first hired in 1978 to develop a safety program for the Longshore Division. He praised the Division’s commitment to continually improving the safety provisions of the contract.

“The rules in the safety code have been paid for by blood and the lives of workers on the waterfront,” Bargmann said. “The fact that there is a safety code is so important, I can’t think of any other industries where there’s a negotiated safety code that is better than what OSHA provides. My hat’s off to you for continuing to do that and for pushing contract after contract to make lives better and safer for those on the waterfront.”

Voting on the contract will take place through the month of August. The results of the ratification vote will be published in a future issue of the Dispatcher.

The post Coast Longshore Division Caucus Unanimously Votes to Send Tentative Agreement to Membership first appeared on Labor Today.

On June 25, Local 23 hosted a Celebration of Women in Maritime at the Foss Waterway Seaport. Hundreds of Local 23 members, their families, folks from nearby locals, and other members of the maritime community, including Port Commissioner Dick Marzano, gathered at the historical venue and maritime museum on a bright Sunday evening. The museum houses a bronze statue of Harry Bridges and has an exhibit dedicated to the Port of Tacoma and Local 23.

The event was professionally catered and began with a cocktail hour. Many attendees traded in their steel-toed boots and Carhartts for fine evening wear. Before commencing the program, a first-of-its-kind photo was taken of all current and former Local 23 sisters in attendance.

The event kicked off with Janice Peralta of Local 23 giving a speech detailing her journey on the waterfront, followed by the event’s guest speakers. ILWU-PMA Washington Area Welfare Director Andrea Stevenson gave a powerful history highlighting her many “firsts” and other struggles and triumphs for women in the industry since she started on the waterfront in Local 19 through the child of the deceased program.  IBU Secretary-Treasurer Terri Mast was a commanding presence as always and left the crowd inspired by her impressive career and feeling hopeful for the future. The program closed with Gail Ross of Local 23 presenting a plaque to Beverly Berge and posthumously to Marlene Peterson, the first two women to work on the Tacoma waterfront in the late 1970s. Attendees of the event said it felt very good to be celebrated and the honored guests were grateful to be recognized.

The idea for the event formed when Meghan Mason of Local 23 was introduced to Foss Waterway Seaport’s Education Director Julia Berg, through a real estate transaction. Berg was excited about the possibility of a collaboration with Local 23 to hold an event celebrating “International Day for Women in Maritime,” an annual event held every May 18 since 2022. Local 23 had just created a committee to honor the founding sisters of their local; Mason brought the concept to the committee and soon the event grew to be something much more than Berg and Mason had imagined.

The post ILWU Local 23 Celebrates Women in Maritime first appeared on Labor Today.

As the impact of the devastating fires in Maui became known, the ILWU Executive Board, local unions, and rank-and-file members responded immediately to assist to our ILWU family and other workers in Hawaii who have been affected by this tragedy.

Local 142 is the largest local in the ILWU and Maui is home to 5,700 Local 142 members, the highest concentration of ILWU members on any island.  2,700 members work in West Maui, and 1,750 members live in Lahaina.

The extent of the damage is still being evaluated. The fires have destroyed the town of Lahaina and has become the deadliest wildfire in United States history in more than a century.

News of the devastating fires on Maui was being reported as the ILWU International Executive Board was meeting on August 9-11 in Vancouver, British Colombia.

The Executive Board responded immediately to a request for assistance by Local 142 Board Members by unanimously approving a $50,000 donation towards the relief efforts. The donation was matched by Local 142 and the Hawaii Longshore Division.

In addition, ILWU Locals 6, 10, 19, 63-OCU, and ILWU Canada have each pledged $10,000 towards relief efforts. As the Dispatcher was going to press, other ILWU Locals and the Inlandboatmen’s Union of the Pacific were scheduling meetings to approve relief donations to assist our ILWU family in Hawaii.

In Southern California. Locals 13, 63, 63-OCU, 65, 94, the IBU, pensioners, and auxiliary filled 13 shipping containers with essential supplies and necessities to assist those impacted by the fires. Containers filled with relief supplies were also organized by Locals 10 in the Bay Area and Locals 19 and 23 in Seattle/Tacoma.

In Hawaii, Local 142 officers, Maui Division BA’s, and the leadership of the Hawaii Longshore Division have been meeting with Local 142 members and other community members displaced by the fires. Local 142’s legal team has been providing advice for filing FEMA applications. They are also providing education to help members identify and resist predators and scammers and are preparing members for aggressive self-advocacy with insurance companies. Local 142’s officers and Maui Division BAs have opened communication lines with members and employers over workers’ employment status and are working to ensure that members’ rights are protected in the coming weeks and months. Local 142’s supply chain team is working with the community to make members and the greater community directly receive needed relief supplies and essential goods.

“I want to thank our ILWU family on the Mainland for their outpouring of support and assistance and for the work of the Local 142 leadership, and rank-and-file members who are organizing relief efforts and helping to protect the rights and interests of the people on Maui displaced by the fires,” said ILWU International Vice President (Hawaii) Sam Kreutz. “Looking out for one another is what we do as union members.”

Local 142 has established the Kōkua Maui Fund through the ILWU Credit Union to donate to the relief efforts.

Donations can be made to Local 142’s Kōkua Maui Fund using the following channels through the ILWU Credit Union:

• In Branch: ILWU Credit Union members can deposit cash or transfer money from their ILWU Credit Union account to the relief fund over the counter at the branch;
• By Phone: ILWU Credit Union members can contact the Credit Union toll-free at 866-445-9828 and transfer funds from their Credit Union account to donate to the relief fund;
• By Check: Anyone can donate by check made out to “ILWUCU – Kōkua Maui Fund” and dropped off or mailed to any ILWU Credit Union Branch;
• Online: Anyone can donate by credit or debit card on the ILWU Credit Union website at https://www.ilwucu.org/donate.

“We are heartbroken to see the devastation in Maui,” said ILWU International President Willie Adams. Helping any worker in distress is a core value of this union, and the membership immediately stepped up to provide financial and material support to our family in Hawaii. We will continue to work with the leadership of Local 142 to support the ongoing relief and rebuilding efforts.”

The post Executive Board, ILWU Locals, Respond to Wildfires on Maui first appeared on Labor Today.

“This is straight out of the strikebreaking playbook: Instead of sitting down and negotiating with workers, they’re funding a dirty-tricks media campaign, using anonymous sources to selectively leak misleading information to reporters,” Ashton said.

“They figure if they can ruin their own employees’ reputations, it’ll pave the way for back-to-work legislation, without having to dip into their massive post-pandemic profits to give their workers a little more. I urge reporters, the public and the federal government not to play their game.”

Ashton cited several news stories since the strike began that exaggerated the livelihoods dock workers earn — and noted the sources behind them didn’t seem as interested in revealing salaries and bonuses for senior managers and CEOs, or in talking about their own profits.

“The reality is, our people do hard work under difficult, often dangerous conditions, and they kept Canada’s economy moving through the worst of the pandemic,” he said. “That’s a long ways from the picture the employer wants to paint. It can be a good living, but it takes years of sacrifice to get there, and it’s still hard work.”

He pointed out that:

• A waterfront worker spends many years waiting on call to get one-off shifts at very short notice. Their income is sporadic, and the unpredictability of shifts makes it hard to supplement it with other jobs. Turnover is high in this period, as many workers can’t stick it out.

• Even once they have more secure employment, many waterfront workers don’t receive a shift for days or even weeks at a time. Most are dispatched on a day-to-day basis, and can’t count on regular hours or shifts.

• Earning pay rates at the high-end of the scale means working night shifts, six or seven days a week.

• Rates of injury are high, with several deaths recorded in recent years.

“Our members’ families are facing spiralling food bills, housing costs and interest rates. All we’re asking from employers is to share some of the wealth our labour is creating for them through a fair, reasonable increase in wages, and to ensure our members can continue to do that work with respect and dignity,” Ashton said.

“We’re telling the BCMEA to call off their attack campaign, and come back to mediation. We’re willing to look past the smears and insults if it means we can return to the place where respectful negotiations and an honest deal can happen: the bargaining table.”

Rob Ashton
President – ILWU Canada

The post CANADA: ILWU Calls on Marine Employers to End Dirty Tricks Campaign, Return to Bargaining Table first appeared on Labor Today.

The next step for us is to follow our ratification procedures.  This starts with a contract caucus that convenes delegates from our 29 locals up and down the West Coast.  These delegates will carefully review the tentative agreement and make a recommendation to the rank and file who will then vote on the tentative agreement.  This process takes a few months to complete.

We will not be sharing details of the tentative agreement publicly until we have completed the ratification process.

I want to thank all who worked so diligently on these negotiations along with a special thank you to Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su whose leadership helped us cross the finish line.”

The post Statement from ILWU President on PMA Tentative Agreement first appeared on Labor Today.

Scores of union members from the Inlandboatmen’s Union of the Pacific (IBU) and other divisions of the ILWU rallied in front of the Los Angeles Harbor Commission on December 15 to raise awareness about the impact that closing Westoil Marine Services in the L.A. harbor will have on local workers and their families. Centerline Logistics recently announced that it will be closing operations at its subsidiary, Westoil, at the end of December. The rally at the Harbor Commission was part of the IBU’s political and legal efforts to protect its jurisdiction and preserve area wage standards on tugs and barges in the L.A. and Long Beach harbors 

Corporate shell games

The closure of Westoil is a part of a complicated shell game that began in 2020, consisting of asset exchanges by two large national marine transportation corporations, Saltchuk Marine and Centerline Logistic. This corporate maneuver has upended the livelihood of scores of maritime workers represented by the IBU, Masters, Mates, and Pilots (MM&P), and the Sailors Union of the Pacific (SUP). The asset exchange by Saltchuk and Centerline has allowed the companies to replace longstanding contracts with the IBU and the MM&P with a substandard agreement with the Seafarers International Union (SIU) that undermines the standards for fair wages and benefits previously set by the IBU and MM&P collective bargaining agreements.

In December 2020, Saltchuk Marine announced that it acquired eight ship assist tugs owned by Centerline Logistics and operated in the Pacific Northwest and California. Centerline Logistics, in turn, purchased six bunker barges operated in California from Foss Maritime, a subsidiary of Saltchuk. A bunker barge is like a floating petrol station. The bunker barge pumps fuel oil into the ship’s storage (bunker) tanks. That transaction impacted 55 IBU members working for the Centerline-owned Westoil/Millennium when Centerline’s Millennium-branded tug operation was sold to Saltchuk operation.

Instead of folding the six bunker barges and the contracts it acquired from Foss into its existing marine fueling companies including Westoil, Centerline gave the contract and barges to its newly created subsidiary, Leo Marine Services, leaving many of the IBU mariners who manned both the Millennium tugs and the Westoil barges without work.

The transfer of work from Westoil to Leo Marine by Centerline is currently being challenged by the IBU at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). 

Southern California IBU Regional Director John Skow told the protesters, “We’re going to fight for those jobs because these guys worked during the pandemic, and they worked here for years. There is a lot of experience here, and they just want to throw them out into the street like garbage. We want their jobs back or have the company find jobs for them at their other facilities.”

Newly elected L.A. City Councilmember Tim McOsker, who represents San Pedro, voiced his concern at the commission hearing and told the demonstrators outside, “We need the Port Commission to enforce all the rules and to hang onto these great jobs and stick with working families and the contracts that you have signed.” 

IBU member and Westoil employee, Cris Sogliuzzo, made his third appearance speaking before the L.A. Harbor Commission. The commission administrates the lease agreements for tenants like Centerline Logistics in the port of LA.

“One of the main charges at the NLRB is that the transfer of our work from Westoil to Leo Marine is what I believe to be an effort to eliminate the Westoil IBU unit,” Sogliuzzo said during the public comment period. “I am asking the Harbor Commission to conduct an investigation into the labor law charges pending at the NLRB and to investigate the intent to close Westoil operations as it relates to the lease permit 882. If the Commission finds that wrongdoing has occurred, I would like to see the Harbor Commission and City Attorney take affirmative action on our behalf. I would also like to see injunctive relief, so that Westoil is not allowed to close its doors on us while the other affiliates are allowed to continue to operate at this location performing our historical work, despite being challenged before the NLRB.”

Solidarity from UAW

IBU members were joined by dozens of United Autoworkers Local 2865 members working at UCLA. IBU members have walked the picket lines at UCLA and UC San Diego as an act of solidarity supporting the 48,000 academic workers striking throughout the University of California system. IBU members have also been out to Moreno Valley to support the organizing drive by the Amazon Labor Union (ALU) at the giant warehouses there. 

 “We wanted thank the IBU for sending their members to teach us what real picket lines are all about,” said UAW 2865 member Jared Brewster. “They helped us picket construction sites at UCLA and gave inspiring speeches. This is how we can mutually support each other’s actions. As long as we are isolated, it is a boon to the bosses.”

The post IBU & ILWU Holds Rally to Save Good Jobs first appeared on Labor Today.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (November 29, 2022) – The International Longshore and Warehouse Union, which has issued several statements of support for the nation’s railroad workers throughout negotiations, today criticized the movement in Congress to impose a contract that workers in several rail unions have rejected for lack of paid sick leave.

“Warren Buffett can afford to pay wages for railroad workers who get sick and need to stay home or see the doctor,” said Willie Adams, International President of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU). “If Congress imposes a rejected contract siding with Warren Buffett against the will of our nation’s 115,000 railroad workers, it will greatly undermine union rights in America.”

Warren Buffett’s company, Berkshire Hathaway, owns Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF), one of the nation’s massive railroad companies.

“The ILWU continues to unequivocally stand in support and solidarity with the nation’s railroad workers and their railroad unions in their fight to get a fair agreement with the private rail companies that have reaped record profits during the pandemic,” said Bobby Olvera, Jr., ILWU International Vice President (Mainland). “The railroad barons’ profits have contributed to inflation, and they do not need any favors from Congress – especially at a high cost to workers and collective bargaining.”

The ILWU Coast Longshore Division represents 22,000 dockworkers in all 29 ports on the U.S. West Coast, and first announced its solidarity with the railroad worker unions on July 19 and remains supportive today of their collective bargaining rights to achieve demands for sick leave and other quality-of-life issues.

www.ILWULongshore.org
www.facebook.com/LongshoreWorkers
www.twitter.com/ILWULongshore

The post ILWU calls on Congress to not force rejected contract down Railroad Workers throats first appeared on Labor Today.