Harbor Agency Orders Pilots to Return to Work

The Los Angeles Harbor Department on Thursday ordered its striking port pilots back to work with hand-delivered letters that describe their 6-day-old work stoppage as illegal and say that remaining off the job will be “deemed an act of insubordination.”

The letter prompted at least one of the city’s 14 pilots, a seven-year employee, to quit the tiny union and return to work, but also triggered outrage among members of the Los Angeles City Council, who said it did not follow the spirit of the council’s instructions to negotiators to reach out to the union to ensure a return to the bargaining table.

Union attorney Elizabeth Garfield called the letter “the most underhanded union-busting tactic that anyone has ever engaged in,” and said she would file a complaint of unfair labor practices against the city if the threatening letters were not withdrawn by noon today. Although the two sides had agreed to meet at 2 p.m. today to continue negotiating, Garfield said she was unsure whether the union would return to the table if the letters were not retracted.

“On the one hand, they’re calling us and asking us to go back to the bargaining table; on the other hand, they’re out there intimidating our members,” complained pilot Will Baumann. “I said before it was underhanded. I think that’s too kind. I’m thinking of other words.”

Striking pilots, camped outside their empty station on a rocky outcropping in San Pedro, remained defiant.

“I’m not going in,” said Michael Rubino. “We’re here for the duration, man.”

Unable to bridge the gap between the $133,000 offered by the city and the $195,000 salary they want, the pilots walked off the job Saturday morning, 12 days after their contract expired.

Underlying the dispute is the pilots’ fear that the city wants to privatize its piloting operation. The pilots do not necessarily oppose privatization, but want their jobs guaranteed during the process.

City Hall sources said that during a closed-door meeting Monday, Mayor Richard Riordan suggested that the city simply hire new pilots to replace the striking workers. People who attended the secret session said another participant responded with a snide remark comparing the Republican businessman-mayor to former President Ronald Reagan, who fired striking air traffic controllers.

Riordan could not be reached for comment Thursday but issued a statement regarding the Harbor Department’s letter through his chief of staff, Robin Kramer.

“Because the port plays such a vital role in our city’s international trade, and in the nation’s economy, it is the city’s earnest desire to keep the port pilots working and the port humming,” Kramer said on the mayor’s behalf. “At the same time, the city must take every step necessary to exercise appropriate management responsibility and oversight. It continues to be in everyone’s best interest for good-faith negotiations to go forward.”

But two key council members--Personnel Committee Chairwoman Jackie Goldberg and Rudy Svorinich Jr., who represents the harbor area--said the letter should not have been sent.

“It’s terrible. I have no idea why it was done, who authorized it, or what anybody could have been thinking of,” said Goldberg, the council’s leading labor supporter and a key player in negotiating with unions. “That is not what the directions of the council were to the Harbor Department. Our directions were much more conciliatory. We certainly did not say to imply, or to in fact threaten their jobs.”

Svorinich, a conservative lawmaker who typically supports the mayor, said he was surprised to learn of the letter, adding that it heightens his concern over whether the dispute can be speedily resolved.

“This is a tool that I personally would not have utilized. . . . My viewpoint, and I believe that of the council, would never be to intimidate employees back to work. I would hope that this is not seen as [intimidation],” he said. “I would hope that this letter would not be an obstacle to the port pilots and the city moving forward to continue their negotiations and settle this dispute once and for all.”

The two-paragraph letter, signed by harbor Executive Director Larry Keller, says, “We believe you are engaged in an unlawful strike.”

In court papers, the city has alleged that the strike is illegal because the union walked out before going through mediation and fact-finding, as outlined in a city ordinance. But a judge Tuesday declined to rule on the strike’s legality, setting a hearing on that for next week.

“You are hereby ordered to report to work immediately. . . . Failure to obey this order will be deemed an act of insubordination,” the letter states.

Keller did not return repeated calls for comment Thursday afternoon. City Administrative Officer Keith Comrie, however, described it as a “routine” management step during a job action, and said Keller worked in consultation with the city attorney’s office.

“It’s our job to keep that port rolling, in a safe condition, and the port [administration] is doing what it should do to try and get it staffed,” Comrie said.

One labor law specialist who asked not to be identified said that if city officials are right in their contention that the strike is illegal, “then the letter is not extraordinary or heavy-handed. This would be an appropriate response if, in fact, they [the harbor pilots] are striking prematurely.”

The labor lawyer conceded that such letters often are intended to intimidate strikers into returning to work, and could be a prelude to the hiring of replacement workers. But, he added, the letter also might simply be a negotiating tactic.

The strikebreaking pilot came back to work Thursday about 4 p.m. and moved one ship. A Harbor Department spokeswoman said no other pilots had returned as of 6 p.m.

Reached at his home late Thursday, the pilot declined to comment.

“He was tired of the BS,” one of the two management pilots who have been filling in for the strikers said of the returnee.

Times staff writers Stuart Silverstein and Cecilia Rasmussen contributed to this story.