Port Activity Picks Up as L.A. Officials, Pilots Agree to Talks

Los Angeles city officials and striking port pilots agreed Wednesday to return to the bargaining table--though they did not say when--as business at the nation’s second-busiest harbor began to return to normal.

After a 3 1/2-day shutdown, the San Pedro harbor was brimming with life Wednesday morning: Longshore workers descended on vessels idled by the strike, crane operators feverishly lifted 40-foot containers from the ships, truck drivers hurried sneakers, electronics, auto parts and clothes to local warehouses and train yards, and the city’s two replacement pilots scrambled to do the work of more than a dozen men.

“We’re back in business,” said Ricky Howard, director of operations for the Distribution and Auto Service Inc. terminal, where three massive vessels of Nissan Pathfinders and other vehicles were being unloaded.

A judge Tuesday blocked the city’s pilots from picketing the terminals, leaving a lone striker sitting in a folding chair near the pilots’ house with a union sign as the only public evidence of the walkout. Longshore union members, who work for a private company, had been honoring the picket lines until the judge’s order.

But as city leaders celebrated the renewed activity at the port, shippers expressed frustration about continued delays and fear of future unrest. The restraining order against picketing will be revisited at a hearing July 24.

“We’re bleeding to death,” said Robert Kleist of Evergreen Line, adding that his company has had cargo canceled and that new bookings are nonexistent.

“Anybody in this kind of situation gets kind of fidgety,” added Jeff Hull of Matson Navigation Co., which had three vessels stranded in the harbor, including one with perishables bound for Hawaii. “We’re just doing our best to get our fleet back on schedule.”

An official at Nippon Yusen Kaisha Line said the company was “putting a lot of pressure on the port” to settle the strike.

“You can’t be in the position of acquiescing to the pilots’ demands, but something’s got to give,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “We got slammed . . . we have to really scramble now. We’re burning 50-gallon drums of money faster than you can imagine.”

Coast Guard officials said that they would monitor the two replacement pilots vigilantly for signs of fatigue.

Each pilot must rest for 10 consecutive hours daily, officials said; that leaves 28 pilot-hours to handle the arrivals and departures, each of which takes one to two hours. The port averages 6,000 piloting trips a year, or 16 per day.

“What we’ve got ahead of us is the constraints on what two guys can do,” said Cmdr. Michael Moore, chief of port operations. “Business will not drive the schedule. Safety will drive the schedule.”

The two management pilots have made 36 ship moves since the strike started Saturday morning, including seven on Wednesday before 5:30 p.m., officials said. Pilots planned up to three more moves Wednesday night, leaving nine ships scheduled for moves idle.

Elizabeth Garfield, the pilots’ attorney, expressed confidence that the pressure tactic would prove effective.

“The ships are moving, but they’re moving very slowly,” Garfield said. “You can’t have two people doing the work of 14 people. There is no way the harbor is getting back to normal, and cannot get back to normal until our strike is resolved.”

Indeed, negotiators for the city asked union members to return to work while bargaining resumes. But Garfield rejected that offer outright, saying the strike would continue “until we have a contract that’s satisfactory to our membership.”

The pilots’ contract expired June 30.

The union, which represents 16 jobs--though two pilots are out ill and there is one vacancy--has demanded a 72% salary hike over two years to the industry average of $195,000 a year. The city has offered a series of raises totaling 17% over four years, to $133,000 annually. The pilots’ current salary, $113,172, is already among the highest among city employees--$15,000 more than City Council members make.

Those close to the negotiations, however, said money is no more important than other issues, particularly the questions of privatization and arbitration.

Los Angeles is the only major port in the nation in which pilots are on the government payroll, rather than working for private contractors.

“The whole issue is, what is going to become of the port? Is it going to remain a union port?” said one high-ranking city official who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “There’s a lot of churning going on. People are nervous and scared. I think that’s evident by how quickly they went on strike and how quickly the [members of other branches of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union] refused to cross the picket lines.”

A 1995 audit by the consulting firm Booz, Allen & Hamilton suggested privatizing the pilots’ jobs, saying the current situation is “inconsistent” with the harbor’s mission. Privatization would both save the port money and boost pilots’ pay, the study says.

The pilots have no formal position on privatization, but want to ensure that they will retain their jobs either way.

The talks broke down last week, union President Jim Larkins said, because a city official suggested removing that job protection from the contract.

During a closed-door meeting, the Los Angeles City Council told negotiators Wednesday to return to the bargaining table, with non-monetary issues as a key focus, sources said.

Lawmakers said they might be flexible on salaries as well, noting the dangers inherent in the job of climbing 60-foot ladders to board huge ships, and the expertise required for navigating the harbor.

“I’m not saying give them everything they want, [but] the key thing we want to do is realize they’re essential to the reliability of the port,” said Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg, chairwoman of the Personnel Committee. “I think we need to get to some place where we can assure our customers that there won’t be work stoppages.”

Councilman Rudy Svorinich Jr., who represents the harbor area, noted that a pilot’s mistake on the job could cost millions of dollars--or the pilot’s life.

“That needs to be taken into consideration from the city’s side. The ramifications [of a huge salary increase] on other city employees needs to be taken into consideration by the port pilots,” Svorinich said. “I would think that within a brief period of time, in the best interests of moving cargo through the port, both the harbor department and the port pilots will see the bigger picture and move toward one another.”

The strike is the latest chapter in a rocky labor history between the pilots and the port. Their last contract was not finally settled until the third of four years covered by the agreement; in 1990, 1979 and 1977, the two parties had to use a neutral fact-finder to set a salary when traditional bargaining broke down.

On Wednesday, it took several phone calls before they connected and agreed to meet. They have yet to decide when.

Garfield, the union attorney, said she may not be available before noon Friday, when court papers are due for next week’s hearing on whether the pilots can resume picketing at the container terminals. She suggested that the city drop its request for a restraining order.

City officials said they are ready to return to the table immediately. They would like the strike to stop in the meantime, but are willing to talk even if the pilots do not return to work.

“The ball is in their court,” Deputy Mayor Bill Violante said.