The document had been provisionally adopted November 23 by representatives of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA). On December 12 some 80 union representatives voted to place it before the membership for a ballot that will take place January 6-13.

The margin of approval on December 12 was 94 percent. Opposition came from several members representing marine clerks in the Bay Area and at several other ports from Seattle to San Diego. The positions of about 400 clerks would be lost under the contract’s terms. The employers said they will offer the clerks union jobs elsewhere on the docks.

The proposed six-year agreement includes pension increases, improvements in health benefits, and a $3 per hour wage raise.

Negotiations on a new contract began in May. In the following months workers held a number of solidarity rallies and pickets as they reached out for support. They explained that the bosses’ "modernization" proposals--backed vociferously by big-business politicians and media--will involve an acceleration of work speedup and attacks on safety conditions. Seven people have been killed while working the docks so far this year.

The dockworkers won considerable support from other workers for their fight against the bosses’ attacks. In late September the PMA locked out the longshore workers. After 10 days, on October 8, President George Bush invoked the anti-union Taft Harley Act to reopen the ports and resume work under the terms of the expired contract.

Deborah Liatos is a member of the United Food and Commercial Workers union Local 120.  
 
 
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