Dock Ironworkers Protest Use of Foreign Labor
Ironworkers picketed outside a cargo terminal Wednesday at the Port of Long Beach to protest the use of Chinese laborers to prepare a shipment of cranes for unloading.
Members of the Ironworkers Union Local 433 gathered at the Hanjin terminal about 6:45 a.m. to protest the employment practices of Shanghai Zhenua Port Machine Co.
The action by eight workers attracted about 300 people from various unions in the area, said Steve Skinas, a business agent for the ironworkers.
A Shanghai Zhenua vessel was at Hanjin delivering a load of eight cranes that are used to move shipping containers around the terminal yard.
The picket line, which was honored by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, shut down Hanjin’s operation from 7:15 a.m. to about 1 p.m.
Chinese laborers had removed the metal structures that secured the cranes during shipment, work that the ironworkers say they have historically performed at the port.
An arbitrator ordered the longshore union to return to work at Hanjin. But dockworkers refused to do so until the Ironworkers Union and Shanghai Zhenua agreed to discuss their concerns.
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