ILWU-PMA dispute halts work on three containerships in Oakland

Operations returned to normal on Monday after a disagreement with an International Longshore and Warehouse Union marine clerk local over dispatching procedures closed the port during second shift Sunday, according to the Pacific Maritime Association.    The Pacific Maritime Association said a disagreement with an International Longshore and Warehouse Union marine clerk local over dispatching procedures closed the Port of Oakland during the second shift Sunday.
   “Despite reaching a new agreement in the protracted 2014 negotiations with PMA on a dispatch procedure for Sunday and holiday operations at the Port of Oakland, ILWU Local 34 officials decided not to honor the agreement. Instead, the Union officials refused to dispatch workers for the second shift on Sunday, causing a shutdown of terminal operations at the Port of Oakland,” PMA said in a statement.
   Mike Zampa, a spokesman for the Port of Oakland, said full operations resumed Monday and that the dispute resulted in vessel operations on three ships being suspended Sunday night.
   “The issue involved conflicting interpretations of labor dispatching language in the new West Coast longshore labor contract. It was settled in arbitration,” according to Zampa.
   PMA said the ILWU’s work stoppage occurred after the PMA informed Local 34 officials on Wednesday, May 27, that the new dispatch process would be put in place beginning with the second shift on Sunday, May 31. Its implementation was initially scheduled for the prior weekend but was postponed by mutual agreement so as not to complicate dispatch during the Memorial Day weekend.
   The dispatch process outlines times by which labor orders must be placed.
   ILWU Communications Director Craig Merilees said employers put in work requests “at the last minute,” which led to the dispute. He noted that the ILWU adhered to the arbitrator’s ruling and that work has resumed.
   PMA said the incident was “the third work stoppage caused by the ILWU in Oakland in just over a week,” but did not provide details on the other incidents.
   “By sanctioning illegal work stoppages, the local ILWU leaders are not just violating the new contract, but are disrespecting the truckers, local residents and small businesses whose livelihoods depend on the efficient and reliable movement of cargo through the port,” said PMA.
   “The ILWU in Oakland has a long history of taking unilateral actions that disrupt ongoing cargo operations,” Wade Gates, PMA spokesperson, said of the incident.
   “We have a new coastwise contract in place that was recently ratified by both parties, a new understanding in Oakland on dispatch and an arbitrator’s ruling finding the ILWU in violation of that new understanding,” he added. “It’s time for the ILWU leaders in Oakland to recognize these facts, follow the provisions of the new agreement and join us in regaining the shipping community’s confidence in West Coast ports.”