ILA’s N.Y., Philadelphia protest enters 2nd day

ILAÆs N.Y., Philadelphia protest enters 2nd day    A job action that shut down terminals in the Port of New York and New Jersey and in Philadelphia Tuesday continues into a second day after International Longshoremen’s Association members refused to cross picket lines by fellow ILA members protesting a decision by Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc. to move its business from Camden, N.J. to a non-union terminal in Gloucester City.
   The New York Shipping Association (NYSA), the group that represents ILA employers, said workers were defying an order it obtained Tuesday afternoon from U.S. District Court Judge Dickerson R. Debevoise, enjoining and restraining the ILA and its New York-New Jersey locals to comply with the terms of an arbitration award issued on Monday. The NYSA obtained that order from arbitrator Eric J. Schmertz, following rumors of the impending picketing.
   Schmertz held that “picketing would constitute secondary activity in violation of the National Labor Relations Act.
   “Accordingly the threatened picket lines are not bona fide,” Schmertz said. “Refusal to cross those picket lines is a violation of the no-strike clause of the NYSA-ILA Collective Bargaining Agreement.”

Curto

   Joseph Curto, NYSA president, said the group was returning to court Wednesday morning 'seeking enforcement of the court's order.'
   'I am not going to try to explain, and certainly not defend, the strategy of the ILA,' Curto said in a statement Wednesday. 'I am however upset with the fact that ILA workers in the Port of New York and New Jersey are penalizing ocean carriers and marine terminal operators who have absolutely no involvement or relationship whatsoever with the issues that may be occurring in the Port of Philadelphia.
   'If the union's strategy is to gain support and sympathy, it appears that the opposite result is occurring. What we have occurring is a classic example of biting the hand that feeds you,' Curto said. 'This action is causing deep economic harm to many innocent parties. Losses being experienced by the ocean carriers alone who have ships idled in the harbor are totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars a day.'
   Fresh Del Monte Produce is moving from a terminal at the Port of Camden, N.J., to a non-ILA facility operated by Holt Logistics in Gloucester City. Leo Holt, president of Holt Logistics, said ILA workers also stopped operations at Packer Marine Terminal in Philadelphia, which is an ILA facility also operated by Holt Logistics.
   “All forces have been deployed to get legal remedies,” Holt said.
   Joseph C. Curto, NYSA president, said, “We feel strongly that these actions by the ILA, in refusing to cross a non-bona fide line, are a violation of the no-strike clause of our current collective bargaining agreement. We further believe these actions are completely irresponsible and accordingly we will explore all possible remedies to end this illegal action.”

Devine

   James Devine, chief executive officer of Global Container Terminals USA, which operates container facilities on Staten Island and Jersey City, said terminals were shut down about 6 a.m. Tuesday in New Jersey and 8 a.m. in New York after picket lines were thrown up by Camden workers and the lines were honored by ILA workers in New York.
   On the West Coast, Pete Wallace, deputy executive director of maritime services at Port of Hueneme, where Del Monte ships discharge fruit, said there was no job action at the port, but two ILA members had demonstrated outside the port’s front gate, “handing out flyers not to buy Del Monte products.”
   Earlier this month the ILA asked the AFL-CIO to initiate a nationwide boycott of Del Monte products by all AFL-CIO affiliates.
   ILA said it had “serviced Del Monte through a stevedore at the Pier 5, Camden, N.J., facility for the past 22 years working professionally and efficiently. On July 22, 2010 Del Monte demanded through its stevedore that the ILA reduce labor costs by $5 million and imposed an unreasonable four-day deadline on the ILA to meet its demands.”
   ILA employees at the terminal “had not had a wage rate increase for 19 years, but agreed to reduce their wages up to 25 percent, cut manning, and eliminate possibly certain benefits thereby reducing labor costs by $5 million, the ILA said. “Despite these concessions, Del Monte served notice through its stevedore that it is moving to a Gloucester, N.J., facility. Del Monte's move replaces 200 ILA family sustaining jobs with working poor employment.”
   But Holt Logistics complained the ILA continues to misrepresent the decision by Del Monte to relocate to the Gloucester Terminal.
   “Contrary to the ILA's claims, we understand that Del Monte's decision to relocate from Camden to Gloucester Terminals is based primarily on the fact that it has outgrown the Camden facility,” Holt Logistics said. “Del Monte determined that there is not enough room in Camden to handle its anticipated growth, both now and in the future.    The Camden facility has a total refrigerated cargo capacity that is just under 10,000 pallets; by contrast, Gloucester Terminals has more than 40,000 pallets of refrigerated cargo capacity.'
   “The ILA has chosen to engage in a work stoppage that risks approximately $10 million worth of perishable cargo,' Gloucester said. 'This is particularly troubling given the union's longstanding pledge not to risk perishable cargo by refusing to work ships like the one docked at the Camden facility today.”
   Check AmericanShipper.com for updates on this story. ' Chris Dupin