Employers say ILWU workers threaten job action
The Los Angeles-Long Beach Harbor Employers Association said late Tuesday the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 63 Office Clerical Unit (OCU) has threatened a job action just days before a contract expiration date.
The employer group, which has 14 member companies said it began negotiations on April 19 with the union for a new contracts for 600 clerical workers who provide customer service and other support for cargo movement operations of the companies at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Each of the 14 terminal operating and steamship line companies has a separate contract with the union.
“The contracts expire on June 30, yet the OCU has been unwilling or unavailable to meet for more than 20 of the bargaining days over the last 10 weeks. As of today — one day before the expiration of the contracts — the OCU has not given the employers a full proposal, not even a wage proposal,” the association said in a statement. The union could not be immediately reached for comment.
“OCU has now threatened a job action, which in the past has included work stoppages,” the employer group said. It complained that because of the week economy “even the suggestion of disruption is irresponsible.
'Employers are committed to continued good faith negotiations to reach a fair resolution for both sides,” it said.
Among the essential provisions proposed by the employers for a new OCU contract are:
' Flexibility in staffing so employers are not required to only call in temporary employees or hire new employees when there is a real business need.
' Limiting what it said was an abuse of health and welfare benefits, and changes to encourage workers to use their health plan’s PPO network and discourage out-of-network visits it said is driving up the medical costs.
' Ability to allow continued booking of cargo handling other business online. “The OCU seeks to dismantle the ability to use technology that was negotiated between the parties in 2004 and return to less efficient and less customer friendly processes.” The employers say they want to preserve this technology, which enables them to remain competitive and meet customer needs, while providing the OCU a meaningful role in the implementation of technology.
' Competitive equity. Instead of using the contract grievance procedure, the OCU has historically singled out two or three employers for unjustified “punishment” in the form of higher wages and more paid time off. The employers seek to end this practice by proposing that each company be allowed to adopt contract terms offered by the union to a competitor that provide lower wages, benefits or staffing costs.
' A six-year contract for “stability this would provide during these uncertain economic times.” Past contracts for the clerical workers have been three years in length.
The employers say OCU members earn average annual wages of $96,900 — with some making more than $250,000. They say their benefits package worth about an additional $66,000 per year.
Stephen Berry, lead negotiator for employers, said the union has not indicated explicitly what kind of job action it might take. But he said in the past, workers have picketed one or more employers at a time, and when that happens, longshoremen and clerks refuse to cross picket lines, shutting down individual terminals.