Union: SoCal port clerks striking after contract expires without new pact

SoCal port clerks striking after contract expires

LOS ANGELES — Clerical workers at several terminals at the country’s busiest port complex went on strike after their contract expired early Thursday without a new labor agreement, a union spokesman said.

There was no extension when the labor contract elapsed at 12:01 a.m. PDT Thursday, said Stephen Berry, lead negotiator for the Harbor Employers Association which represents 14 shippers and terminal operators at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

“We are now on strike,” said John Fageaux Jr., president of Local 63 of the 900 member Office Clerical Unit of the International Longshore Warehouse Union. “We tried very hard to get the employers to the table; they refused to do so.”

Fageaux said workers at four of the terminals will stay off the job beginning Thursday morning. He said it still hadn’t been decided if workers at the remaining terminals would join the strike.

Fageaux said fellow ILWU members, including longshoremen, have historically honored picket lines. That could shut down loading and unloading operations at the twin ports, which account for 40 percent of all the cargo container traffic coming into the United States and are starting to recover from the recession.

Both sides disagreed on where to meet to hash out a deal hours before their contract expires. Berry said the shippers rejected the latest proposal received via email from the union late Wednesday, which called for a wage increase of 21 percent over three years.

Berry said the shippers countered with a proposal that includes a 10 percent increase in monthly pension payments and protection from layoffs.

He said he’s optimistic the two sides would resume communications later Thursday.

“We are willing and available to meet with the employer any time to continue these discussion,” Fageaux said.

The clerks voted Tuesday night to authorize a strike when talks stalled. They process bookings for the export of cargo and other transport documents for shippers and terminal operators.

The shippers want to use new computer programs allowing customers access to booking information. The workers are worried that may lead to their jobs being outsourced.

“We’re not opposed to technology that will create more efficient processes, but we do not agree if it allows others to do our work,” Fageaux said.

The shippers said they have proposed keeping every existing job and offered a 10 percent increase in monthly pension payments in the next contract.

Three years ago, workers threatened a walkout, but talks continued after the deadline. Both sides ultimately reached a deal in which the workers got a raise and an agreement that allowed monitoring of whether any of their job duties were being outsourced.