Complaints have been leveled that dockworkers in Baltimore and ports along the West Coast are creating bottlenecks in response to heated contract negotiations.
“Monday, they shut down at 4 p.m. they just told everybody, ‘The port’s closed. Go home.’ Yesterday, they shut down at 11:30. People got there at 6:30 and never got a load,” a Baltimore truck driver who didn’t want to be identified reportedly said.
Accusations have flown that union dockworkers are using slowdown tactics to put pressure on management. If true, such practices now impact the livelihoods of independent truckers who are limited by hours of service restrictions. In response, Maryland Port Authority Executive Director William Doyle released a curious statement regarding the long lines of trucks waiting to pick up loads.
“The port is operating and has been operating all week. There was a shortage of union workers on a couple of shifts that necessitated closing some inbound gates early. While the gates were closed, union workers still loaded and unloaded the ships at the dock and positioned containers and cleaned the yard inside the terminal,” Doyle reportedly said. “For well over a year, management and labor have worked together servicing diverted ships from all over the nation due to congested ports. This has provided additional employment and extra lifts and cargo for our trucking community.”
Similar issues have arisen at West Coast ports, where the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), and Pacific Maritime Association, are embroiled in fierce negotiations. A pause was required over the summer to allow cooler heads to prevail and avert a potentially disastrous strike. While union leaders have gone on the record stating they are committed to continuing good-faith contract negotiations, some finger-pointing has reportedly taken place over productivity and job assignments. Union officials deny any deliberate slowdown tactics by its members.
“The ILWU is working and negotiating, and we’ve done both successfully for nearly 90 years,” ILWU Coast Committeeman Cameron Williams reportedly said. “Unfounded rumors are rampant during negotiations, and it’s unfortunate that some media publish opinions instead of facts.”
Officials do claim that the SSA Marine terminal services provider conducted an end-run around already agreed-upon terms. It seems SSA Marine onboarded the National Labor Relations Board to push work to a different union. The maneuver has only increased the temperature of the boiling-point negotiations.
“We are shocked that SSA is taking such an action, and we are currently regrouping to determine how to proceed in negotiations while we watch an employer violate the very provision of the contract over which the parties were bargaining,” Williams reportedly said.
Industry leaders and government officials have repeatedly called for calm as the supply chains on both coasts could be disrupted by strikes.
Sources: cnbc.com, cbsnews.com. wbaltv.com
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