Clerical Workers

Clerical workers at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach will return to work Wednesday, ending a strike that crippled America's busiest shipping hub for more than a week. Leaders of the 800-member International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 63 Office Clerical Unit agreed to a tentative deal after marathon negotiations that ended late Tuesday. The deal will not become final until it is ratified by the full union membership. It ends a grueling battle between both sides that threatened to damage the fragile U.S. economy.

A California dockworkers union lodged an accusation for the second time in three months against APM Terminals for eavesdropping on workers to gain an edge in contract negotiations. The clerical workers' unit of International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local No. 63 last week rejected contracts that were reached in December to end a strike at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, and the new complaint is another sign that tension between the union and management persists. In its original complaint filed Nov. 14, the Long Beach-based ILWU accused APM of conducting "secret surveillance, eavesdropping and snooping" on workers during the weeks leading up to an eight-day strike that shut down most of the cargo terminals at the busiest seaport complex in the country.

Racing a midnight Saturday deadline, negotiators for port terminal operators and for 750 union clerical workers continued contract talks late into the night, hoping to avert a strike that could cripple the nation's two largest seaports. Members of the clerical union at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach voted unanimously Friday night to authorize their leadership to call a strike if a new three-year contract was not crafted before the old one expired, said John Fageaux Jr.

Bargaining units for a clerical workers' union rejected a tentative labor agreement this week that that ended an eight-day strike that shut down the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach late last year. The tentative contract, announced Dec. 4, intially appeared to be headed toward ratification, but on Wednesday night, voting members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 63 Office Clerical Unit rejected the tentative contract.  The accord was the culmination of tense negotiations between the clerical workers' union and the Harbor Employers Assn., which represents shipping companies at the ports.

Clerical workers rallied and walked picket lines at UCLA and other University of California campuses Tuesday to draw attention to a contract dispute with the university. Leaders of the Coalition of University Employees, which represents 16,000 clerical workers, called the walkout a success. They said hundreds stayed off the job to demand higher wages. UC officials said the walkout, which continues on various UC campuses through today, has had little effect on operations.

Predictions that the computerization of American business would sharply reduce the need for clerical workers by eliminating mountains of paper work couldn't have been more off base, according to a study by a UC Irvine professor. A three-year analysis of state and federal labor statistics reveals that clerical workers make up the single largest employment group within the information sector, which includes everything from teachers and engineers to librarians and insurance agents.

A yearlong stalemate between Oxnard and its clerical staff ended late Monday as the employees' union voted to accept a two-year contract that grants all workers a small bonus and the senior workers a 5% raise. The Service Employees International Union, made up of the city's secretaries, clerks, accountants, engineers and planners, voted with a strong majority to pass the plan. Both sides described the contract as bare-bones but fair.

UC Berkeley is girding for labor walkouts beginning Monday, the first day of the fall semester, but university officials say that classes will begin as scheduled. The biggest job action is planned for Monday through Wednesday by the Coalition of University Employees, which represents 2,300 clerical workers at UC Berkeley and at the nearby UC administrative office in Oakland. The union is calling the walkout to protest a breakdown in negotiations on a new labor contract.

There is disunity at Solidarity House, international headquarters of the mighty United Auto Workers union. The UAW's clerical workers vote today on whether to strike the union. The workers, members of the Office Professional Employees International Union, Local 494, said Wednesday that the dispute revolves around seniority rights and job security issues. Their contract expired Feb. 1.

Scores of classes at five University of California campuses were canceled Monday as unionized lecturers and clerical workers began a two-day strike to protest stalled contract talks and to highlight their job complaints. The rare multi-campus walkout hit the Santa Cruz and Riverside campuses hardest, but also led to scattered cancellations and service disruptions at Irvine, Santa Barbara and Davis.

APM Terminals has been accused by a California dockworkers union of eavesdropping on workers to gain an edge in contract negotiations. The complaint, filed with the National Labor Relations Board by International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 63, said APM "conducted secret surveillance, eavesdropping and snooping and listening in on confidential communications between and among union representatives, shop stewards and members concerning ongoing...

For eight long days, the usual lunch crowd was missing from Marcos Medina's restaurant. The eatery, called Isaac's Cafe, is located just a few blocks from the Port of Los Angeles. The longshoremen and others who make their living working at the massive seaport weren't coming through the glass doors of the family-run business. "I have to be honest - our business runs off of them," said Medina, 42. But on Wednesday, the port sprang to life. Medina was back hustling and taking food orders from a long line of customers at the tiny Mexican food joint his parents opened in 1977.

Big, round numbers always get people's attention. Numbers such as $1 billion, which has been bandied about as the economic loss per day nationally from the eight-day strike that shut down most of the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. That figure makes it sound as if several hundred port workers, members of Local 63 Office Clerical Unit of the Longshoremen's union, jeopardized the entire economy of Southern California, if not the entire nation. The corollary is How dare they? So let's put that figure in some context.

Clerks who make $165,000 a year? That's outrageous! So, how much do you make? It's not a question one asks in polite conversation. But for the striking clerical workers at the Los Angeles ports, who agreed to a tentative deal to end their strike late Tuesday, their total compensation became front-page news: an average of $165,000. Except. Did you read that sentence carefully? Did you notice the words “total compensation”? That's right. Sometimes it pays to read the fine print.

Clerical workers at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach will return to work Wednesday, ending a strike that crippled America's busiest shipping hub for more than a week. Leaders of the 800-member International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 63 Office Clerical Unit agreed to a tentative deal after marathon negotiations that ended late Tuesday. The deal will not become final until it is ratified by the full union membership. It ends a grueling battle between both sides that threatened to damage the fragile U.S. economy.

Standing with a picket sign in hand, clerical worker Manny Garcia gestured his thanks to motorists honking in support as they drove past a Port of Los Angeles cargo terminal. Garcia has manned the picket lines at the L.A. and Long Beach ports in shifts since last week, when the 800-member International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 63 Office Clerical Unit went on strike. The issue pitting the clerical workers union against their shipping line employers is concern over outsourcing jobs, a charge the Harbor Employers Assn.

Karen Jorgensen, a Glendale-based recruiter, accepted a daunting assignment when she agreed to help Nylon Molding search for someone who would work closely with its president on a variety of tasks. "I thought the search would be time-consuming," said Jorgensen, president of a firm that provides executive search and personnel management services. "There's the worry that the person you find may not be right for the job."

Standing with a picket sign in hand, clerical worker Manny Garcia gestured his thanks to motorists honking in support as they drove past a Port of Los Angeles cargo terminal. Garcia has manned the picket lines at the L.A. and Long Beach ports in shifts since last week, when the 800-member International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 63 Office Clerical Unit went on strike. The issue pitting the clerical workers union against their shipping line employers is concern over outsourcing jobs, a charge the Harbor Employers Assn.

Talks to end the six-day strike at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach intensified over the weekend, but with no resolution, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa wrote a terse note to both sides. He wants round-the-clock bargaining with the help of a mediator. The strike has pitted the 800-member International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 63 Office Clerical Unit against some of the world's biggest shipping lines and terminal operators. It has shut down 10 of the 14 cargo container terminals at the nation's busiest seaport complex.

A walkout of union workers that began at the Port of Los Angeles' biggest and busiest cargo terminal Tuesday was spreading to more terminals there and to the neighboring Port of Long Beach, according to port officials. The expanding walkout had the potential to broadly shut down operations at the two ports, which together are the seventh busiest commercial harbor in the world. The two ports handle more than 40% of the nation's ocean-shipped imports from Asia. They also make up the busiest gateway for U.S. exports headed for sale overseas.