[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 114 (Thursday, August 5, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1771-E1772]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       WEST COAST LABOR AGREEMENT

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. NORMAN D. DICKS

                             of washington

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, August 5, 1999

  Mr. DICKS. Mr. Speaker, I want to bring to the attention of my 
colleagues a highly significant but largely unnoticed development--the 
recently agreed-upon labor pact affecting West Coast dock workers and 
clerks. At 5 p.m. on July 1st, with a news blackout in effect, the West 
Coast longshore contract expired. From early May until mid-July, 
officials of the Pacific Maritime Association representing roughly 100 
companies on the West Coast, and representatives of the International 
Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) met to try to hammer out a new 
agreement. After several days of complex, difficult negotiations--
frequently lasting through the night--the two sides reached agreement 
several days ago. Last week, more than 99 percent of the delegates to 
the ILWU caucus recommended approval of the new three-year pact. It is 
expected that before the end of August this agreement will be fully 
ratified and that West Coast ports will enjoy 3 years of stability.
  Besides raising wage and pension benefits the new agreement, among 
other things, calls for companies and union members to form a committee 
to discuss the introduction of new technology on the waterfront, or 
improve the use of current technology, to enhance productivity. This 
would seem to be crucial for all concerned. Canadian and Mexican ports 
and companies are rapidly moving forward trying to outcompete the 
United States for an increasing share of trade with Asia. It is in the 
interest of neither management nor labor to let this happen.
  In a recent article in the Los Angeles Times, Professor Stephen 
Cohen, Co-Director of the Berkeley Roundtable on International Economy, 
and John Wilson, the former Chief Economist at the Bank of America and 
now a Senior Fellow at the Roundtable, noted that in the pat twenty 
years waterborne trade through West Coast ports has grown from $61 
billion to an estimated $285 billion for this year. This is double the 
rate of increase in total US trade growth and this West Coast 
waterborne trade is clearly critical to America's continuing economic 
prosperity. Further, that trade, according to Cohen and Wilson, now 
constitutes more than 60 percent of the gross state product of my state 
of Washington and more than 35 percent of California's GSP.
  If PMA and the ILWU had not reached agreement and there had been a 
West Coast dock strike or lockout, the dislocations would have been 
felt even more strongly in Asia than here. As Cohen and Wilson have 
noted: Asian exports arriving by ship at West Coast ports are expected 
to exceed $200 billion this year. This is the principal source of the 
vital foreign exchange net earnings needed to sustain the currency 
values, to service large foreign debts and to import the components and 
machinery required for growth and development of the stricken Asian 
economies. A significant disruption of West Coast ports would hamper 
recovery. It might also affect financial markets.
  Mr. President, my constituents in Washington State and all Americans 
have a stake in this pact and in assuring that US-Asian trade continues 
to grow in coming years. None of us should lose sight of this reality. 
I am submitting for the Record a copy of the Cohen-Wilson article and a 
related article by Dan Weikel of The Los Angeles Times.

                [Los Angeles Times, Wed., July 14, 1999]

                METRO--Port Strike Would Hurt U.S., Asia

                (By Stephen S. Cohen and John O. Wilson)

       Despite six weeks of negotiations, the International 
     Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime 
     Assoc., which represents almost 100 West Coast shipping 
     lines, have failed to reach an agreement for a new contract 
     for the West Coast. Since the prior contract expired on July 
     1, many union work actions have affected port operations up 
     and down the coast. A full-fledged strike would put the U.S. 
     and many other economies at great risk.
       In the last few weeks, crane drivers walked off the job for 
     two days in Oakland, effectively shutting down one of the 
     nation's busiest ports. Work slowdown also have impacted the 
     flow of goods through the behemoth ports of Los Angeles and 
     Long Beach. Ports in the Pacific Northwest are experiencing 
     slowdowns as well.
       A West Coast port shutdown could trigger a reaction in 
     international financial markets, with the biggest risk being 
     a worsening of the Asian financial and economic crisis. There 
     would also be a major national economic impact, a 20-day 
     strike at ports in California, Oregon and Washington, for 
     example, could cost this country close to $40 billion and 
     200,000 jobs. The impact of such a shutdown would increase 
     daily across the country and even could trigger a sudden 
     spike in American consumer prices.
       What makes a West Coast dock shutdown a potential detonator 
     of a national and international financial and economic 
     crisis? The size and magnitude of the trade flowing through 
     the ports, the dependency of this North American gateway on 
     Asian economies and the relative inflexibility to divert 
     cargo to other ports.
       Since 1980, waterborne trade through West Coast ports has 
     increased from $61 billion to an estimated $285 billion this 
     year. That is double the rate of increase in total U.S. trade 
     growth.
       This growth in trade activity is directly related to the 
     increasing import-export activity with Asia. West Coast ports 
     are now dominated by trade with Asia, which accounts for 
     about three-quarters of all port activity (sea and air) in 
     California and about 60% in Washington state. 
     International trade accounts for about 19% of the U.S. 
     gross domestic product and more than one-third of 
     California's gross state product.
       But the real dependency is one the other side of the 
     Pacific. Asian exports arriving by ship at West Coast ports 
     are expected to exceed $200 billion this year. This is the 
     principal source of the vital foreign exchange net earnings 
     needed to sustain the currency values, to service large 
     foreign debts and to import the components and machinery 
     required for growth and development of the stricken Asian 
     economies. A significant disruption of West Coast ports would 
     hamper recovery. It might also affect financial markets.
       The ability to shift significant volumes of Asian trade to 
     East Coast or Gulf of Mexico ports in the event of a West 
     Count shutdown is now extremely limited because container 
     facilities--ships, ports and infrastructure--are too 
     specialized. The West Coast ports have made about 70% of all 
     port investment in the 48 contiguous states for the past five 
     years. As a result, high volume shipping is a powerful, 
     integrated and, alas, inflexible system. Almost all the 
     containers destined for the Central and Mountain states now 
     pass through West Coast ports. So do nearly half of 
     containers destined for the North Atlantic states.
       But because of the specialization, the U.S. does not have 
     the luxury of simply diverting Asian cargo to East Coast 
     ports. Shipping is no longer a collection of roving ships 
     docking here and there.
       For all these reasons, the risk of a port strike is simply 
     too great for the U.S. and world economies. The current act 
     of management-union negotiations warrants a watchful eye from 
     the White House and Treasury as well as the Department of 
     Labor. If need be, both sides should be locked up at Camp 
     David to finish the talks. But, in no case, should the ports 
     be allowed to shut down.
       Beach. ``There have been long truck lines, and we've been 
     getting calls from worried manufactures. We should be able to 
     clear, things up pretty quickly.''
       Both sides declined to discuss what agreements, if any, 
     were reached on several important contract issues; increasing 
     the productivity of longshore workers, the number and type of 
     jobs under union control, and the use of new labor-saving 
     technology on the docks.
       Negotiators said the terms of the contract will not be 
     released until after the agreement is ratified in the weeks 
     ahead by union members and the executive board of the 
     maritime association.
       ``We are pleased to have reached an agreement that provides 
     ILWU members with a package that rewards them for the hard 
     work they put forward every day,'' said James Spinosa, the 
     union's vice president and chief negotiator.
       West Coast longshore workers now earn about $80,000 to 
     $100,000 a year, depending on their skills and rank. Wages 
     can go higher for heavy equipment operators, dock bosses and 
     marine clerks who truck cargo.
       Association officials headed into the negotiations saying 
     the talks were critical for improving the reliability and 
     productivity of the waterfront labor force.
       They also said they hoped to engage in substantive 
     discussions about the use of technology on the docks and ways 
     to avoid repeating the score of costly work stoppages that 
     followed the 1998 labor contract.

[[Page E1772]]

       Among the issues critical to the union were increases in 
     pension and medical benefits as well as the union's 
     jurisdiction--the number of port-related jobs that fall under 
     its control.
       Labor officials said that if modernization continues, steps 
     must be taken to preserve union positions and expand the 
     organization's jurisdiction beyond port boundaries.
       Both sides came to the bargaining table in May after 
     several years of court fights and political rancor.
       Within the union itself long-shore locals in Southern 
     California had repeatedly tried to remove President Brian 
     McWilliams and neutralize his power.
       The locals issued a vote of no confidence in the president 
     and demanded that he take a leave of absence for the reminder 
     of his term Williams, however, has remained in office.
       The union's internal conflicts coincided with series of 
     sharp attacks by the Pacific Maritime Assn., which targeted 
     the productivity and reliability of longshore workers.
       Miniace a labor relations specialist who worked for Ford 
     Motor Co. and Ryder, led the assault in public and in court, 
     repeatedly suing the union over work stoppages and slowdown 
     to no avail.
       Miniace contends that productivity, measured by tons of 
     cargo handled per hour paid has either stagnated or declined 
     in each of the last four years. His greatest fear, he said, 
     was that customers would send their goods through other ports 
     in the United States or Mexico if things didn't improve on 
     the West Coast.
       Union officials criticized Miniace's aggressive approach, 
     saying he was a newcomer who did not understand the shipping 
     industry.


                [Los Angeles Times, Fri. July 16, 1999]

                 Longshore Workers, Shippers Reach Pact

                            (By Dan Weikel)

       Longshore workers and shipping companies agreed to a new 
     labor contract late Thursday, clearing the way for the 
     resumption of normal cargo operations at West Coast ports 
     that have been plagued by work stoppages and slowdowns for 
     the last 10 days.
       After almost two months of bargaining in San Francisco, the 
     powerful International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the 
     Pacific Maritime Assn. concluded a new three-year contract 
     that will affect more than 10,000 dock workers in California, 
     Oregon and Washington.
       With tensions running high, there had been considerable 
     fear that the West Coast was headed toward its first dock 
     strike since 1971. West Coast ports, which handle cargo worth 
     an estimated $280 billion every year, are critical to the 
     nation's economy.
       Details of the agreement were unavailable Thursday, but 
     negotiators said it offered increases in pay, health 
     insurance and pension benefits for future as well as current 
     longshore retirees, some of whom now have pensions as low as 
     $240 a month.
       ``I think this is a very good agreement for the ILWU and 
     the Pacific Maritime Assn.,'' said Joseph N. Miniace, 
     president of the West Coast's largest shipping association. 
     ``We had almost two weeks of work slowdowns, and we've been 
     working until 3 a.m. the last few nights to get a contract. I 
     am relieved; our team is relieved, and their team is 
     relieved.''
       The Pacific Maritime Assn., which is the union's 
     counterpart, negotiates and administers labor contracts for 
     about 100 shipping lines, stevedore companies and terminal 
     operators.
       Association officials said Thursday evening that normal 
     cargo operations will resume at all West Coast harbors, which 
     have been hampered by work slowdowns since early July.
       During their peak, longshore workers shut the Port of 
     Oakland for two days and reduced the flow of cargo by at 
     least half at many terminals along the coast.
       The pace of work raised fears that the delays eventually 
     would cost business and industry millions of dollars in lost 
     revenue, not to mention losses in fees to port authorities.
       Harbor officials in Long Beach and Los Angeles, the 
     nation's largest combined port, said Thursday that any 
     backlog of cargo should be cleared from the docks in the days 
     ahead.

     

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