A federal court has dismissed a lawsuit by the International Longshoremen’s Union claiming the Virginia Port Authority interfered with the new master contract between the union and one of its terminal operators.
The order issued Thursday by Judge Jamar K. Walker of the Eastern District of Virginia dismissed the case without prejudice, meaning his decision was based primarily on technical aspects of the filing, and that the union can re-file its suit.
FreightWaves has reached out to the ILA for comment. The VPA in a release announcing the dismissal order said it would have no further comment.
Virginia International Terminals is an operating entity of VPA, formed to negotiate contracts since Virginia law prohibits state agencies from bargaining with unions. The operator is a member of the United States Maritime Alliance, which negotiates the coastwise master contract with the union on behalf of port employers and ocean lines.
Walker in his decision acknowledged the facts of the case in the lawsuit: That VIT installed automated rail-mounted gantry cranes at the port’s Norfolk International Terminal without consulting the ILA, in violation of the terms of the new master contract. Since VIT is the employer of record, the VPA claimed, among other things, that it had no obligation to recognize the union contract.
Then-VPA Chief Executive Stephen Edwards was also named in the suit filed in August. In January he left the agency to become CEO of Hornblower Group, a tourism transportation company based in New York.
The union had sought a declaratory judgement and permanent injunction barring interference by the VPA.
Automation was at the center of a bitter contract fight between the ILA, which represents tens of thousands of longshore workers at ports from New England to the Gulf Coast. A three-day strike brought container handling to a halt in October 2024 before the sides agreed to a new seven-year contract the following March.
The pact permits automated equipment on the docks but also protects union jobs from being directly eliminated by that technology.
Read more articles by Stuart Chirls here.
Related coverage:
What trade war? Near-record imports at top US container port
