The new contract with the bosses’ organization, the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), took effect February 1. The six-year agreement will increase wages an average of between 7 and 8 per cent for longshore workers and clerks, increase pensions by an average of 58 percent, and maintains health insurance coverage.

PMA president Joseph Miniace said the contract fitted an "era of modernization." The PMA’s main goal since the previous contract expired in July has been to increase labor productivity through the use of new technology.

The contract allows the PMA to use new computerized tracking systems which will result in 400 to 600 positions being eliminated.

The contract negotiations were the source of a confrontation last summer. West Coast dockworkers staged a number of rallies last summer involving other unions.

Longshore workers insisted that a West Coast-wide contract be maintained, along with the union hiring hall where work assignments are made. The terminal and shipping bosses responded to the workers’ stance by going on a campaign to force ILWU members to work faster, which the workers resisted by working to safety rules.

The PMA locked out the workers for 10 days last September and October. More than 125 cargo ships were left stranded along the Pacific Coast, setting the stage for the Bush administration to step in under the Taft-Hartley Act to reopen the ports October 8 under the old contract.

Federal government mediators, along with AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka, worked out a compromise agreement. A tentative contract was announced on November 23, and the ILWU longshore caucus approved the proposal going to the membership on December 12.

Federal mediator Peter Hurtgen said at a November 24 press conference that the proposal will make the ports more efficient. While some jobs will be lost, the agreement allows the union to retain its traditional jurisdiction in the jobs as changed.

The Los Angeles Times noted that "union jurisdiction over jobs related to the new technology may continue to be a sore point."

Cargo loaded and unloaded at West Coast ports is predicted to double over the next decade, setting the stage for further attempts by the PMA to increase longshore productivity in order to bolster their profits.

"The question is how much more will we be prepared six years from now," Richard Washington, a member of Local 10 who opposed the length of the contract, told the Militant. "The PMA will build up all kinds of pressure against us. We have to stand up and face the tough times ahead--that’s how you build leadership."

Bill Kalman is a member of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 120 in San Lorenzo, California.  
 
 
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