ILWU contract talks to start Monday

ILWU contract talks to start Monday Employee safety, job retention and port air quality are expected to dominate contract negotiations set to kick off Monday between the West Coast dockers union and industry employers.
   The current International Longshore and Warehouse Union six-year contract with the industry's Pacific Maritime Association, covering more than 26,000 longshore workers in California, Oregon and Washington, expires July 1.
   Union members and the PMA are both hoping to avoid acrimonious negotiations such as those that led to the 2002 lockout by the industry and subsequent strike by the union. The 10-day strike wound up costing the national economy more than $1 billion per day.
   ILWU leaders and PMA officials have both said they are pleased with the cooperative relationship that exists as the two side prepare to head into the contract talks. Both sides agreed last year to sit down at the bargaining table well in advance of the traditional 60-day period before the contract expires.
   Safety talks, focusing on reducing death and injury by ILWU members, will point to the more than dozen dockers that have been killed since the 2002 contract was signed.
   Also on the table will be the elimination of the terminal 'hoot' shift, which runs 3-8 a.m. ILWU members working this shift work for five hours but get paid for a full eight-hour shift.
   Instead of the current three-shift system, the PMA wants to cut costs by doing away with the 'hoot' and turn the remaining two into 10-hour shifts.
   Other topics on the table for Monday include the high cost of health benefits for the ILWU and the impact that new technology may have on union employment levels.