Harbor Pilots File Action Over Unsigned Contract

Six months after ending its strike against the Port of Los Angeles, the tiny harbor pilots union announced Thursday that it has filed an unfair labor practices complaint against the port’s director for refusing to sign the contract that brought the lengthy walkout to an end.

The grievance lodged with the city Employee Relations Board charges that Larry A. Keller’s inaction has held up the pilots’ new contract and pay raises, even though the City Council and Board of Harbor Commissioners approved the agreement in November.

“It’s outrageous for an employer to refuse to sign a contract that was previously agreed to. The port director was obligated to do so once the agreement was reached,” said attorney Elizabeth Garfield, who represents the Los Angeles Port Pilots Assn.

Keller was unavailable for comment Thursday. But in a prepared statement, he urged the pilots union to return to the bargaining table to settle the remaining issues, which he described as minor points that would not jeopardize the final contract.

Barbara Yamamoto, the port’s communications director, said the director has no desire to delay the agreement. She said he disagrees with a contract provision that deals with the way the pilots set their work schedules.

“We are not reneging on any terms of the agreement. We are just down to working out a minor provision of a very complicated contract,” Yamamoto said. “We are just as anxious as the harbor pilots to get this strike behind us.”

The city’s 14 harbor pilots, who are responsible for steering cargo ships through the busy port of Los Angeles, walked off their jobs July 11. They returned to work Nov. 26 after entering an agreement to raise their annual salaries from $113,700 to $140,600 by 2001.

To end the strike, all parties, including Keller, signed a letter of intent Nov. 14, 1997, which spelled out provisions of a new contract. Less than two weeks later, the pilots’ association, the council and harbor commissioners approved the deal.

Over the last few months, while working out the final language of the contract, Keller reportedly developed second thoughts about a provision of the letter of intent he signed. The section states that port pilots shall be assigned to schedules they had prior to the strike, unless they choose, in order of seniority, to move to another shift.

Keller thinks that the union misrepresented to him the importance of seniority in determining who works what shift, Yamamoto said, and he does not want the letter of intent attached to the final contract.

The pilots contend that Keller has no choice but to sign the contract because the city and the port have agreed to attach the letter of intent to the final agreement.

“Keller speaks often about putting the strike behind all of us,” said Jim Larkin, president of the pilots’ association. “How can we do that if he’s refusing to sign the contract to which he already agreed? If this is how Keller honors his agreements, it’s no surprise that Long Beach has replaced Los Angeles as the No. 1 port.”

Because Keller has not signed the pact, the pilots have been without a contract since the strike ended. Consequently, Garfield said, pay raises have yet to go into effect while changes in health care benefits that lowered premiums for the city have been implemented.

The pilots contend that the city’s refusal to execute the contract and its selective implementation of its provisions violate the city’s Employee Relations Ordinance.

Garfield said she will ask the Employee Relations Board, which hears complaints about management practices, to order Keller to sign the contract. The process could take several months.