International Longshore Warehouse Union

Representatives from labor, management and the shipping industry are scheduled today to discuss the impact on local ports of the recently ratified labor agreement between longshore workers and the Pacific Maritime Assn., which represents steamship lines and terminal operators along the West Coast. The three-year contract, approved Aug. 25 by the International Longshore & Warehouse Union, increases pay, health insurance and pension benefits.

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.

A small union of maritime clerks managed to shut down most of the nation's busiest seaport complex Wednesday, raising concerns about harm to the fragile economy. Although late November is a relatively slow time for cargo movement at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, a prolonged closure could prove costly for retailers and manufacturers who rely on the ports to get their goods as well as truckers and other businesses that depend on the docks for work. "You are stranding goods at ports that handle 40% of the nation's import trade," said Jock O'Connell, an international trade economist who works as an advisor to Beacon Economics.

A small union of maritime clerks managed to shut down most of the nation's busiest seaport complex Wednesday, raising concerns about harm to the fragile economy. Although late November is a relatively slow time for cargo movement at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, a prolonged closure could prove costly for retailers and manufacturers who rely on the ports to get their goods as well as truckers and other businesses that depend on the docks for work. "You are stranding goods at ports that handle 40% of the nation's import trade," said Jock O'Connell, an international trade economist who works as an advisor to Beacon Economics.

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.

The union representing West Coast dockworkers has formed an alliance with pilots who guide ships through the Panama Canal, a link-up that could boost the bargaining power of both unions. The International Longshore and Warehouse Union represents workers in the U.S. and Canada, including 50,000 longshore and other workers on the West Coast. The union has been concerned about the potential loss of cargo, jobs and collective bargaining power that could occur when the Panama Canal expansion opens in 2014.

Ever since the 1930s, when Harry Bridges founded the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, the legendary labor leader's name has conjured images of dockworker walkouts and bloody clashes with police on the picket lines in the hardworking port communities of Wilmington and San Pedro.

Ocean shipping companies face a one-day West Coast port shutdown Tuesday as port workers intend to protest this week's World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle. The International Longshore & Warehouse Union plans the action to protest WTO's support of worldwide free trade, the Journal of Commerce first reported last week. A stoppage would halt port activity on the heaviest shipping day of the week in Southern California ports, the nation's busiest.

The City Council on Friday told the federal government to stay out of the labor contract disputes at the port of Los Angeles and other West Coast harbors. The action came in response to reports that the Bush administration may invoke the Taft-Hartley Act to head off work stoppages. The Pacific Maritime Assn., representing the port operators, and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, representing the dock workers, have been negotiating for a new contract since June.

Federal mediators hoping to settle a labor dispute between West Coast dockworkers and their employers are set to tour terminals in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, and possibly others, early next week before calling both sides back to the bargaining table. Peter J. Hurtgen, director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, met Wednesday with negotiators for the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, and Thursday with officials of the Pacific Maritime Assn.

The union representing West Coast dockworkers has formed an alliance with pilots who guide ships through the Panama Canal, a link-up that could boost the bargaining power of both unions. The International Longshore and Warehouse Union represents workers in the U.S. and Canada, including 50,000 longshore and other workers on the West Coast. The union has been concerned about the potential loss of cargo, jobs and collective bargaining power that could occur when the Panama Canal expansion opens in 2014.

Ever since the 1930s, when Harry Bridges founded the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, the legendary labor leader's name has conjured images of dockworker walkouts and bloody clashes with police on the picket lines in the hardworking port communities of Wilmington and San Pedro.

Representatives from labor, management and the shipping industry are scheduled today to discuss the impact on local ports of the recently ratified labor agreement between longshore workers and the Pacific Maritime Assn., which represents steamship lines and terminal operators along the West Coast. The three-year contract, approved Aug. 25 by the International Longshore & Warehouse Union, increases pay, health insurance and pension benefits.

The longshore union and shipping industry reached a tentative agreement on technology -- the stickiest issue in their prolonged labor dispute -- early Friday, after all-night talks with three federal mediators and a top AFL-CIO official. No details were released on the deal, which many saw as a breakthrough in the stalemate that has disrupted commercial trade along the West Coast for more than a month.

Though I might disagree with a couple of points in the Nov. 15 editorial, "L.A.'s Dawdling Ports," still I say three cheers for ringing the alarm bells about bankers' hours of the terminals at the nation's busiest seaport. The International Longshore and Warehouse Union called for extended hours at the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles long ago, and so we agree with The Times that the current business-as-usual schedule is not good enough. The union would like to see the ports embrace 24/7 access and the creation of inland staging areas so we can move this cargo off the docks and into the supply chain more efficiently and quickly, so goods arrive in neighborhood stores on time.