Staff Writer
A historical joint meeting of International Longshoremen’s Association locals led to the approval of a labor agreement between them and Hanjin Shipping Co. Monday night, the major hurdle holding up construction of the company’s $300 million terminal in Jacksonville.
“I am extremely pleased that the International Longshoremen’s Association and Hanjin have reached an agreement,” said Mayor John Pey-
ton.
“As a result, Jacksonville will now benefit from the thousands of jobs
and nearly $1 billion in annual economic impact this project is expected to create. I give the ILA a great deal of credit for envisioning how this partnership can further grow our city into a regional trade and logistics center, and I look forward to welcoming Hanjin as part of our community.”
In December 2008, Jacksonville Port Authority executives signed a 30-year lease agreement with Hanjin, based in Korea, for land to develop a 90-acre container facility at Dames Point Marine Terminal in North Jacksonville. Labor negotiations began shortly after to establish the employee structure to operate the new terminal and the negotiations wrapped up Monday night.
“We have been involved in intense negotiations over the past couple of years,” said Charles Spencer, International Longshoremen’s Association South Atlantic and Gulf Coast District executive vice president.
“The agreement that has been reached will create 600 to 700 new jobs at the port over the next 3 to 4 years, and it will create a lot of ancillary jobs when Jacksonville is home to the first automated terminal in the Southeast,” said Spencer.
Automation was a key issue in the negotiations as the ILA learned that the new automated loading and unloading systems would reduce the number of workers needed to perform the tasks, which would mean a reduction in jobs, initially.
The ILA currently deploys a “gang” of 26 workers to load and unload cargo from ships, according to ILA Local No. 1408 President Romia Johnson, but the automated system will only require about 18 workers to do the same job.
Hanjin recently opened a semi-automated terminal in Algeciras, Spain, and local ILA leaders traveled to the terminal to see what may be in its future.
“We went to Spain to see the operation and how it works,” said Johnson. “We were able to come up with the numbers necessary to perform the task during that trip, and though it will initially mean a reduction of workers, once we start getting the increased volume that we expect, we will need more gangs to accommodate the higher volume. So, in the long term, we expect the system to develop more jobs,” he said.
Johnson represents a union consisting of deep sea, maintenance and warehouse workers with a membership of about 1,600 voting members and he was joined by Daniel Teague, president of ILA Local 1593, who represents clerks and checkers that total about 63 voting and 300 nonvoting members, at the announcement Tuesday.
“This is the first time I can remember our Locals having a joint meeting to decide a contract,” said Teague. “It was tough at first to consider losing jobs, but the membership thought it was the best in the long run.”
A total of 230 voting ILA members unanimously approved the agreement Monday night. That number was affected by the members who were working at the port and were not able to make the meeting, said Nancy Rubin, director of communications for the port.
Hanjin echoed the approval and looks forward to breaking ground on the project.
“Despite facing numerous obstacles, such as global financial crisis, this terminal stands as a testament to what is possible when negotiations are conducted in good faith. The operation of this terminal will not only generate millions in revenue for the city, but provide new jobs for the citizens of Jacksonville,” said G.S. Choi, executive vice president and chief executive of the Terminal Business Unit for Hanjin Shipping Co., through a written statement. Hanjin is headquartered in Seoul.
City Council President Jack Webb was pleased to hear the news and wasn’t surprised with the duration of the negotiations because of his background as a former labor negotiator with CEVA Logistics.
“It’s wonderful news. It’s long awaited and much anticipated.
“This will provide the labor stability for Hanjin to achieve the goals they have set for its Jacksonville terminal,” said Webb.
The amount of issues the two sides had to negotiate contributed to the lengthy process, Webb added.
“There was a lot of moving parts in this, so it’s not surprising that it would have taken some time to get accomplished,” said Webb.
Hanjin had a clause in the contract to lease land it signed with the port authority that would allow the company to back out of the contract if it couldn’t reach a satisfactory labor contract with the ILA, but, in the statement Choi submitted, the company expressed interest in amending the contract to accept the labor agreement and move forward with the project.
The port authority’s board of directors is scheduled to meet Sept. 27 and could discuss the next step in developing the Hanjin terminal.
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