Shippers File Grievance Against Union for Walkout
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Shippers at the Los Angeles and Long Beach harbors filed a grievance against the International Longshoremen’s and Warehousemen’s Union, Local 13, for a walkout that closed down the nation’s busiest harbor Wednesday night.
The action by the Pacific Maritime Assn. alleges the longshoremen violated their contracts with an illegal 13-hour strike that began after two investigators for the district attorney’s office tried to arrest a union member for nonpayment of child support.
“What happened is of great concern to us. We feel we have an obligation to our longshoremen and we feel they also have an obligation to their employers,” said Vince Lamaestra, PMA’s assistant area manager. The walkout, he said, idled 25 to 30 ships for 13 hours and cost shippers “millions of dollars” in lost time loading and unloading cargo at the ports.
PMA’s grievance will be heard by a labor arbitrator who, under the ILWU’s contract, is empowered to withhold some pay guaranteed to dockworkers.
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