UPDATE: Longshoremen contract extended 30 days
A strike by longshoremen serving East and Gulf Coast ports was avoided Thursday when both the International Longshoremen's Association and U.S. Maritime Alliance agreed to extend the current collective bargaining agreement for 30 days.
The announcement was made today in a news release.
Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service Director George Cohen issued a statement recognizing the negotiating efforts of the leadership of the two parties.
"The container royalty payment issue has been agreed upon in principle by the parties, subject to achieving an overall collective bargaining agreement. The parties have further agreed to an additional extension of 30 days (until midnight Jan. 28) during which time the parties shall negotiate all remaining outstanding master agreement issues," Cohen said the release.
A schedule for further contract negotiations was not made available.
The royalty payment was the main point of contention during negotiations of the new collective bargaining agreement. The Maritime Alliance, which represents employers, wanted to institute a cap on the amount of royalties it paid into the fund and longshoremen were against the cap.
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With the possibility of a longshoremen's strike beginning Sunday, the International Longshoremen's Association and the U.S. Maritime Alliance have agreed to mediation in an effort to solve their differences in collective bargaining agreement negotiations.
The meeting will take place before the current agreement expires Saturday evening, though the official time and location have not been publicly released.
One local association leader expects a resolution before the deadline.
"As I've stated previously, I believe we will be able to negotiate a new agreement before the current one expires Saturday," said Charles Spencer, a vice president of the association and executive vice president of South Atlantic and Gulf Coast District.
The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, an independent agency with a mission to preserve and promote labor-management peace and cooperation, has called the organizations back to the table for contract negotiations.
In a statement Monday, service Director George Cohen called for the meeting. The service assisted in mediating an extension of the original agreement deadline from Sept. 30 to Saturday, which was approved Sept. 20.
Association President Harold Daggett sent a Dec. 19 letter to association unions covered by the contract with sentiments that did not share Spencer's outlook.
"Unfortunately, master contract negotiations are not progressing well and it is expected that there will be a coast(wide) strike beginning at 12:01 a.m. on Sunday, Dec. 30," Daggett said in the letter.
The letter instructed locals to prepare and implement a list of actions to respond to the event.
They include not honoring court orders to handle containerized cargo, but honoring court orders to handle perishable commodities — described as fresh, not frozen, with a limited shelf life — military cargo that is not household goods, containerized mail, passenger ships and non-containerized cargo and automobiles.
The association represents about 15,000 workers at 14 ports along the East and Gulf Coasts.
One of the main issues between the two organizations has been the alliance suggestion of a cap on the amount of money employers, which the alliance represents, contribute to the container royalty fund.
The first container royalties were established in the 1960s to protect association members in New York from job losses created by containerization and the introduction of automated cargo.
The fund was created because of the ebb and flow of the work: no ships mean no work. The association contends employers need a strong and skilled workforce when ships need to be worked, and the fund makes that workforce available.
When containerization and automation was being introduced in the 1960s to the U.S., the association agreed to allow containerization to flourish but negotiated a fee based on the weight of each loaded container to be used for annual payments to the longshoremen whose job opportunities had been compromised due to automation.
The alliance reports on its website, usmxlaborupdates.com, that two factors have led to a "dramatic increase" in container royalties: a reduction in the number of association workers and an increase in tons of container cargo.
It also states employers are not asking to eliminate container royalties, only to cap the payments and use the excess, not as savings for employers but to help pay for other benefits for association workers.
Gov. Rick Scott sent a letter Dec. 20 to President Barack Obama requesting assistance to help avoid a work stoppage at the Florida ports.
"The predicted effects of a strike on the State of Florida would be devastating. Cargo-related activity at Florida seaports currently generates more than 550,000 direct and indirect jobs in Florida, and contributes approximately $66 billion in economic value to Florida's economy," Scott's said in the letter.
The Jacksonville Port Authority said it would like to see an agreement and have association-served containerized cargo continue to be moved safely and efficiently, but containers aren't the only product handled by port tenants.
"Containers are one piece of our business. It has been the piece we have focused on greatly, but to say that the port will close down as a result of labor negotiations is hyperbole," said Nancy Rubin, port senior director of communications.
Other products loaded and unloaded at area ports include automobiles, recreational boats, construction equipment, dry and liquid bulk items, break bulk commodities and oversized and specialty cargoes.
The port's three marine terminals, Talleyrand, Dames Point and Blount Island, handled a total of 8.1 million tons of cargo in 2011, and more than 520,000 vehicles, making it the second largest automobile-handling port in the U.S. and first in vehicle exports.
"Also, not all of the containers that come in to Jacksonville ports are handled by the ILA. Those containers will continue to move," she said.
Also tentatively "sitting, waiting, watching and listening" to contract negotiations is Peter Keller, president of Sea Star Line. The shipping company, which serves Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, uses Seafarers International Union to service its ships at the Jacksonville port.
The union represents unlicensed U.S. merchant mariners sailing aboard U.S.-flag vessels in the deep sea, Great Lakes and inland trades.
"But we do use ILA labor in Puerto Rico, so we are monitoring negotiations," Keller said.
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