NEWSFLASH: Triple trouble – Labor talks on both coasts take turn for worse

   Tensions between dock labor unions and their employers on both the U.S. West and East coasts have heightened as disagreements on contract demands on both sides of the bargaining table continue to divide.
   Talks between the Los Angeles/Long Beach Harbor Employers Association, a group representing 14 steamship lines and terminals, and clerical workers represented by the International Longshore Workers Union Local 63 Office Clerical Unit (OCU) have broken down. 
   The harbor employers said in a statement Tuesday morning that “after weeks of negotiations during which the harbor employers believed that progress had been made towards new collective bargaining agreements with the OCU, the OCU has reversed course and once again called an end to negotiations in a move signaling that further OCU-initiated disruption in the LA/Long Beach ports is likely.
   Employers of longshoremen working on the East and Gulf coasts are calling on the International Longshoremen’s Association “to engage in ‘serious’ negotiations,” saying that the union has been viewing current contract talks “as a one‐way street that leads only in their direction.”
    U.S. Maritime Alliance (USMX) Chairman and Chief Executive Officer James A. Capo issued a statement today that said, “USMX has given due consideration to ILA demands and shown its willingness to compromise on issues such as automation and chassis repair. It is disappointing that ILA negotiators have refused to give the same consideration to issues that concern USMX and the employers it represents.”
   The Port of Oakland said Tuesday it is seeing disruptions and impacts on truckers and longshore workers because of a labor action by members of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).
    “It is unfortunate that these actions are targeting the very businesses that help the port generate the revenue that allows us to pay above average compensation and offer such generous benefits,” the port said in a statement….