Port Labor Talks Not Going Well
A month into high-stakes contract negotiations, West Coast dockworkers and shipping lines have failed to reach agreement on a single issue of significance--and have not even begun to discuss the thorny topics of technology and job cuts, both sides said Wednesday.
The lack of progress just five days before the contract expires is alarming businesses across the country. Fearing labor disruptions during the busy back-to-school and Christmas seasons, some retailers are stockpiling goods, pushing inbound container traffic to record highs at ports along the coast. Two retailer groups already have lobbied national and state legislators to intervene.
The willingness of the union and shippers to speak publicly on negotiations is in itself a sign of trouble. Both had agreed in mid-May to an information blackout during talks.
But Wednesday, Steve Stallone, spokesman for the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, accused the shipping lines of leaking news through third parties and said, “The gloves are off.”
Hours later, the Pacific Maritime Assn., which is negotiating on behalf of shipping lines, tersely responded that the union was misrepresenting its bargaining positions.
“This is not a good sign,” said Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp., which is closely monitoring the discussions. “The retail industry is already in a panic over this.”
Imports entering through the Long Beach and Los Angeles ports were up 26% in May from the previous year, Kyser said, in part because retailers were moving summer deliveries early as a hedge against shipping disruptions.
A slowdown or lockout of the West Coast ports could cost the national economy up to $1 billion a day, according to a study by UC Berkeley planning professor Stephen S. Cohen.
The ILWU has not threatened a strike, and Stallone said there were no plans for work slowdowns when the contract expires at 5 p.m. Monday. But the PMA has said it will monitor production and is prepared to lock out union workers if the pace of work drops significantly. Work slowdowns in 1999, when the previous contract expired, cost the industry millions of dollars, the association said.
Technology and productivity issues were expected to dominate the talks and could prove to be stumbling blocks. Shipping lines have said new scanners, electronic seals and other devices could substantially reduce the employment of union clerks, who plan and track container shipments. ILWU clerks last year earned an average of $118,000, including overtime, according to the PMA.
The union maintains it is willing to accept new technology as long as none of the remaining work is outsourced to nonunion workers.
But technology questions have not yet been raised because the ILWU wants to settle the benefits question first.
“They want major concessions in health care, cutbacks, co-pays,” Stallone said. “Our position has always been that we need to maintain our benefits package.”
When talks opened in mid-May, PMA President Joe Miniace said the association’s health-care contributions increased by $57 million last year alone. “We must focus on the cost of this program,” he said at the time.
In a statement issued Wednesday, the PMA disputed union claims that it was asking for reductions in health benefits, and said the ILWU plan was among the best in the country. The group contributes an average of $42,000 per worker per year for benefits, more than the average annual wage of U.S. workers, it said.
