The pact is subject to agreement on remaining issues. These include wages and pension benefits, as well as union control over job conditions, safety, and the hiring hall. Union negotiators said they were demanding higher pensions for dockworkers and union jurisdiction over new dock-related jobs as a tradeoff for the job losses.

Five days after the proposed settlement was announced, federal mediator Peter Hurtgen called for a one-week break in negotiations because of an impasse over pension benefits.

Hundreds of unionists marched in Oakland November 7, among them dockworkers who chanted, "Contract now!" ILWU representative Trent Willis criticized the Bush administration’s imposition of the antiunion Taft-Hartley Act to prevent a strike. Picket signs read, "Taft-Hartley is forced labor" and "Government hands off ILWU."

Because of a media blackout imposed by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, more details were not available at press time.

One union member told the Militant he wanted to see what was actually put down on paper before commenting on the technology agreement. An at APL terminal in the Port of Oakland, a member of the ILWU said she thought the shipping bosses just wanted to make sure the dockworkers worked the Christmas cargo season. Both workers said it was the PMA that was primarily responsible for the current disorganization of the docks.

Since July 1 the ILWU, which represents 10,500 West Coast dockworkers, has been fighting for a contract at nearly 80 shipping lines and terminal operators represented by the PMA. An 11-day boss lockout of union dockworkers last month closed down all Pacific coast ports, which handle $300 billion in cargo a year. The lockout ended October 8 when President George Bush invoked the Taft-Hartley Act, imposing an 80-day "cooling off" period. During the "cooling off" period unionists are legally barred from carrying out job actions or strikes.

The PMA has attempted to get a federal court in San Francisco to rule against the union, accusing it of staging slowdowns since their return to work. On October 29 the ILWU responded citing five reasons for the freight slowdown: space shortages on the docks; increased truck congestion; a shortage of trained workers; equipment shortages and breakdowns; and safety hazards. Dockworkers and their union have explained that they are not working "slow," but that they are working safe.

Declining safety conditions are a major concern for longshore workers. Five dockers have been killed on the job so far this year, and the maritime bosses have intensified the pace of work on the docks over the last few decades. In 1968, 13,279 registered longshore workers on the West Coast moved 54.5 million tons. By 2001 7,669 workers moved 253.4 million tons. Annual tonnage in this period increased almost six-fold. The new agreement on "technology" will allow the shippers to increase this speedup.

The Port of Oakland, for example, bought eight super-sized Panamax cranes this summer. Costing $7 million apiece, these cranes have the capacity to lift 145,600 pounds at one time, and can load or unload over 30 cargo containers an hour. According to port director Jerry Bridges, this expansion will help Oakland get "a good share of the increase in international cargo movement."

In a related development, the U.S. House and Senate announced a compromise agreement October 17 on Senate Bill 1214, the Port and Maritime Security Act. Once passed into law, this legislation would require ports and shipping companies to collaborate with the U.S. Coast Guard to develop "terrorism response plans," set up special port security committees which would restrict access to the ports, and give the Department of Transportation the power to conduct background checks on all port workers and issue mandatory identification cards.

The big-business media has already pointed to the unions as among the targets of the new act. The Long Beach Telegram warned in a recent editorial, "As the recent West Coast labor shutdown so starkly demonstrated, ports are national assets. Their protection, then, is a national responsibility." The new law would provide almost $100 million in grants for security for seaports, and another $400 million for the Coast Guard, the U.S. Customs Service, and other agencies.

The Coast Guard has set up a National Vessel Movement Center, requiring foreign ships to provide a 96-hour notice of their arrival plus cargo and crew manifests. The Coast Guard has also created four Maritime Safety and Security Teams, which are federal maritime SWAT teams based at the ports.

At the same time, Customs is proposing that they be informed 24 hours before any U.S.-bound merchandise is loaded onto a ship in a foreign port, along with detailed descriptions of the cargo.

The Coast Guard has recommended that passenger ferries plying the waters in the state of Washington be targeted for more stringent security. It has proposed that vehicles, passengers, and luggage be screened before boarding the ferry. The plan includes the use of armed patrols.

Bill Kalman is a member of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 120 in San Lorenzo, California.  
 
 
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