Posts tagged International Longshoremen’s Association
Dockworkers along the East Coast are threatening to strike in October
August 14, 2024 // Full-time registered longshore workers on the West Coast, which had its own share of unrest last year, earned an average of nearly $200,000 a year in 2022, according to an estimate from the shippers — some of the best-paid industrial workers in the world. Their numbers have dwindled as the industry moves to automation. That's been a sticking point in negotiations, as we previously explained.
ILA Starts Preparations for East and Gulf Coast Port Strike on October 1
August 6, 2024 // Bloomberg in its report highlights that that a strike would impact six of the 10 busiest U.S. ports. Trade groups presenting retailers and manufacturers have already called for government involvement to oversee the negotiations while many commentators point out the strike would come just weeks before the U.S. presidential election. “With less than 30 days to go before the end of our current Master Contract when these meetings are held, we must prepare our locals and our ILA membership for a strike on October 1, 2024. Two generations of ILA members have come into the industry since our last strike in 1977,” said Harold J. Daggett, the president of the ILA. The union has repeatedly said it would seek to oppose any future efforts at port automation and cargo handling and would also seek to roll back its past allowances.
ILA: Threat of Strike at US East and Gulf Coast Ports “Growing More Likely”
July 17, 2024 // The ILA has a firm stance against increased port automation and singled out the auto gate system to highlight its position. They contend that APM introduced the system that makes it possible to process trucks without ILA labor. Further, they allege that they have observed “an increasing number of IT personnel on marine terminals,” with concern that APM Terminals is encroaching on the union’s jurisdiction. They also questioned if the system is being used in other ports. Economists and the made trade organizations for retailers and apparel manufacturing have all warned of the potential impact a strike could have on already fragile supply chains. There have been repeated calls for the Biden administration to step in to bring the two sides to the negotiating table and guide the process. The Department of Labor helped to resolve the 2023 issues with the West Coast ports which had spent a year negotiating their dockworkers contract.
Dockworkers Cancel Bargaining, Threaten Strike at U.S. Seaports
June 11, 2024 // Automation has been a flashpoint for longshore labor talks on both coasts. Daggett has vowed to stem the tide of automated machinery being used to lift, carry and stack containers on docks around the world. In a speech last year he accused the Biden administration of standing by while foreign-owned carriers use the machinery “to eliminate good paying American jobs.” People familiar with the negotiations say most issues specific to local ports have been resolved, but some issues, such as automation, are unresolved.
Hochul wins fight to create anti-mob group aimed at NYC waterfront
April 19, 2024 // Like the prior comission, it will continue to conduct critical investigations into organized crime in the Port of New York, as well as ensure fair hiring practices that bar discrimination. It will conduct background checks and license companies and people working in the cargo business at the port. The commission will have the power to oust employees from the workforce who are found to have engaged in serious criminality and other violations.
House Seeks Information from Unions on Policies to Prevent Corruption
March 20, 2024 // Each of the letters asks for a comprehensive description of the policies and procedures the union has in place to monitor and deter fraud, corruption, and improper accounting, including any third-party audits, the types of training and education provided to prevent fraud or corruption, internal reporting mechanisms, and disciplinary policies. These questions apply both to each union’s headquarters as well as its locals. U.S. House Subpoenas UAW Local over Controversial Resolution Chairwoman Foxx cites specific examples of corruption for each union. For example, in the Teamsters letter, she cites a state senator from Illinois who was indicted for taking more than $245,000 in fraudulent income and other benefits from Teamsters Joint Council 25 while purporting to be a union organizer.
Chair Foxx Investigates 12 Unions for Recent Fraud, Corruption Seeks answers on protecting workers from further union malfeasance
March 18, 2024 // “The Committee on Education and the Workforce (Committee) is concerned about fraud, embezzlement, and corruption perpetrated by union officials. To ensure workers represented by labor organizations are shielded from malfeasance by union officials, the Committee requests documents and information relating to…efforts to protect employees and deter fraud, corruption, and improper accounting.”
600 Columbia-area Westinghouse workers could unionize in ‘right-to-work’ SC
February 8, 2024 // Some 600 workers at a Columbia-area nuclear fuel plant are expected to vote on whether to unionize after filing a petition with the National Labor Relations Board last week. A group of employees working for the nuclear arm of Westinghouse Electric Company, which employs more than 900 people in a facility near Congaree National Park, has petitioned to join the International Brotherhood of Electric Workers (IBEW) union.
NY dock workers urge lawmakers to sink Hochul’s new waterfront commission
January 29, 2024 // Hochul proposed the new waterfront unit for New York’s side of the harbor to replace the prior Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor, a bi-state agency founded in 1953 by a Congressionally authorized compact between New York and New Jersey. But the bi-state agency dissolved last year after New Jersey pulled out after 70 years, saying it was a relic that was impeding port business. Empire State officials sued New Jersey to keep the bi-state commission intact — saying anti-corruption enforcement remained essential — but the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the Garden State had a legal right to sever the contract.
Jose A. Fernandez-Cruz is Third ILA Local 1740 Boss to Plead Guilty
September 29, 2023 //