ILA, USMX say no strike will occur during RICO action

ILA, USMX say no strike will occur during RICO action ILA, USMX say no strike will occur during RICO action
   Responding to a flurry of fears among shippers, port and terminal interests that the pending U.S. government civil RICO action against the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) might provoke a strike by ILA members, the ILA and the United States Maritime Alliance Ltd. issued the following statement:
   'John Bowers, president of the International Longshoremen's Association, AFL-CIO (ILA), and James Capo, chairman and chief executive officer of United States Maritime Alliance, Ltd. (USMX), are shocked by the irresponsible and totally inaccurate comments made to the media by anonymous sources predicting work stoppages as a result of the civil racketeering complaint filed by the U.S. Department of Justice against the ILA.
   'Mr. Bowers and Mr. Capo, who are the chief negotiators of the Master Contract for the Atlantic and Gulf Coast longshore industry, want the worldwide shipping community to understand clearly that the Master Contract is unaffected by the pending civil RICO action.
   'Indeed, the government in its request for the appointment of court-appointed officers to supervise the affairs of the ILA explicitly deprives these court-appointed officers of any power to negotiate and enter into collective bargaining agreements.
   'Regardless of the outcome in the civil RICO litigation, the Master Contract with its no-strike provision will remain in effect until its expiration on September 30, 2010,' Bowers and Capo said.
   The government's complaint against the ILA was filed Wednesday in the Eastern District federal court of New York by Roslynn R. Mauskopf, U.S. attorney for the eastern district.