Vol. 77/No. 40      November 11, 2013

A master agreement was signed between the International Longshoremen’s Association and shipping companies on the East Coast in April, but negotiations for local contracts over work rules and other issues have continued at the port.

After ILA Local 333 voted 517-25 to strike Oct. 15, three other ILA locals, which together organize 2,000 of the port’s 14,000 workers, honored their picket lines.

Workers on the picket line at Dundalk Marine Terminal here, who did not want to give their names to avoid retaliation by bosses, told the Militant there is a wide range of disputed issues with the shipping companies.

Job safety is a big issue. One picket said that just before the strike started he was required to work 24 hours straight.

Local 333 Vice President Aaron Barnett told the Militant that after union officials decided to suspend the strike, a federal arbitrator ruled that the local had violated a no-strike clause by striking over work covered by the master contract. The arbitrator said that it would be OK to strike over “local” issues, but did not spell out what those issues would be.

According to the Journal of Commerce, the Steamship Trade Association of Baltimore and the ILA are continuing negotiations.  
 
 
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