ILWU SoCal office workers? contract talks postponed until Wednesday

ILWU SoCal office workersÆ contract talks postponed until Wednesday    Talks between the union representing marine office clerks at the two Southern California ports and representatives from area maritime firms continued contract negotiations through Monday evening, finally agreeing to postpone talks due to a family medical emergency for one of the negotiators.
   Negotiations are set to resume Wednesday morning.
   The latest round of talks in the three-week-old contract dispute began Sunday, with employer negotiators hoping to avoid a walkout of the office workers that could lead to a shutdown of the ports of Long Beach ad Los Angeles. The 930 members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 63 Office Clerical Unit has been without a contract since June 30 and submitted its latest proposal to employer negotiators Monday evening shortly before the break.
   After talks resumed last week following a July 4-5 holiday break, the union first called a Saturday midnight walkout deadline after frustrations built up over the slow progress of talks with marine terminal and carrier firms in the ports. Saturday's deadline was extended until Sunday at midnight and talks continued until late Monday morning. A union decision to submit a 'final' offer on Monday afternoon was reversed and talks continued through the day.
   “We’re working hard. We just keep going,” employer lead negotiator Steve Berry told the Associated Press before attending to his family medical issue.
   Reports indicate that the two sides remain far apart on compensation, though movement during the ongoing session has narrowed the gap.
   The union has said that if the talks stall, picket lines would go up.
   The OCU union local, an entity unique to Southern California, is part of the area's larger 15,000-strong ILWU dockworker union. However, the union negotiates their contract with 14 Los Angeles-Long Beach-area maritime firms directly and not with the Pacific Maritime Association, which represents the interest of West Coast maritime firms in negotiations with the parent ILWU union. The OCU represents mainly 'white collar' office and clerical workers in the 'off-port' offices of maritime firms.
   While the parent ILWU dockworker's union has agreed to honor any OCU picket lines — effectively shutting down the nation's two busiest container ports on the eve of the peak shipping season — there is some contention whether the OCU members' positions outside the ports would lead to restraining orders being filed in the case of a walkout and subsequent supportive walkout at the docks.
   Berry previously said the employers’ latest offer included raises that over the life of the three-year contract would raise the union members' hourly pay by nearly $2 per hour to $39.20. The union's last offer sought increases that would equal $53 per hour by the last year of the contract. The employers contend that the OCU members are some of the highest paid office workers in the nation, and in addition to their pay receive a pension, health care benefits free of premiums, and 20 paid holidays a year.