Dissident ILA group opposed contract

Dissident ILA group opposed contract    A dissident group within the International Longshoremen’s Association said while a contract recommended by the union’s Wage Scale Committee earlier this week is an improvement over earlier offers, it is still recommending its members vote against it.
   The ILA said a poll of union locals voted 58 to 9 in favor of the three-year extension of its current contract, a year before it expires. A vote by rank-and-file members on the master contract with the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX), which represents carriers and terminal operators, is scheduled for Nov. 17.
   “The ILA rank-and-file must organize against this deal,” the Longshore Workers Coalition (LWC) said on its Web site. “We must send the ILA and USMX back to the bargaining table.”
   Meeting in Orlando, Fla., on Wednesday, the ILA approved a tentative pact that will extend the contract, which was due to expire next October, through Sept. 30, 2012.
   The new contract preserves an immediate raise of $1 or $1.50 per hour scheduled under the new contract and brings all workers up to a minimum salary of $20 per hour. Top earners would receive another $1 raise on    Oct. 1, 2011.
   “It’s not a horrible deal, but I’m personally a little disappointed,” said Leonard Riley, a co-chairman of the LWC. “I thought it was a bit of rush.”
   He said a major goal in the negotiation was a “wage bridge” that would narrow the gap between long-time ILA employees and workers hired since 1996, who paid under a lower tier wage scale. He estimates more than half of the 18,000-20,000 persons covered by the contract are paid under the lower tier wage scale.
   Under the new contract, the gap between salaries would be closed over a nine-year period. In its critique of the contract, the LWC said it might actually take 14 years for some members to reach top pay.
   Riley said he would like to see that period shortened, saying that on the West Coast, where workers are represented by a the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, the gap is closed over four years.
   The LWC complains that the Oct. 1 wage increase is being paid out of funds from a container royalty fund.
   The proposed contract will eliminate a current “cap” on container royalty payments to the union. But the contract also calls for carriers to receive the first $42 million in container royalty payments before the union begins collecting the royalties.