Port clerks reach deal to stop crippling strike
Hawaii's two largest shipping companies both operate at the L.A.-Long Beach port
By Alex Veiga / Associated Press
LONG BEACH, Calif. » Port clerks and their employers at the nation's largest port complex tentatively agreed on a new contract yesterday, preventing a strike that could have crippled shipping, including a significant portion to and from Hawaii, and cost billions of dollars.
"The employers are pleased that the union recognized the substantial investment that (employers) have made and agreed to their last wage proposal," said Steve Berry, a negotiator for the shippers.
John Fageaux Jr., president of the union local, said he was satisfied with the tentative deal.
The 15,000-member International Longshore and Warehouse Union had indicated that longshoremen would honor picket lines if the 750 clerical workers went on strike. Such a move would have effectively stopped the loading and unloading of cargo at the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles.
Matson Navigation Co., the largest ocean shipper serving Hawaii, and Horizon Lines Inc., the state's No. 2 shipper, both use the affected ports, although they also ship via Oakland, Calif., and Tacoma, Wash.
"We think it's in everyone's interest -- the consumers, the city -- that we don't have a work stoppage," Berry said.
The Office Clerical Unit, Local 63, of the ILWU represents workers for 17 shipping companies and other cargo firms at the twin ports. Its clerks work at marine terminals and handle bookings for the export of cargo and other transport documents.
Their last contract, which expired June 30, gave full-time clerical workers about $37.50 an hour, or $78,000 a year, plus a pension, health care benefits free of premiums, and 20 paid holidays a year.
Under the tentative deal reached yesterday, the workers will receive a wage increase of 7 percent over the three-year contract. That includes a 50-cents-per-hour increase in the first year and $1-per-hour increase in each subsequent year. The employers also agreed to pay $3.4 million to establish a trust fund to manage employees' health and welfare and pensions plans.