For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
October 8, 2002
Report to the President : Submitted by the President's Board of Inquiry on the Work Stoppage in the West Coast Ports
Created by Executive Order Dated October 7,2002
William E. Brock, Chairman
Patrick Hardin
Dennis R. Nolan
San Francisco, California October 8, 2002
Background of Dispute
On October 7, 2002, the President of the United States created this
Board of Inquiry by Executive Order. The President directed this Board
of Inquiry to report to him by October 8 on the current labor dispute
causing the shutdown of the West Coast ports.
The labor dispute involves disagreements between the International
Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the Pacific Maritime
Association (PMA). The PMA is the bargaining representative for
virtually all domestic and international shipping companies and
stevedores operating on the West Coast ports. The ILWU represents
approximately 10,500 longshore workers and marine clerks actively
working at these ports.
The contract between the parties expired on July 1, 2002. Before
the expiration of the contract, in May 2002, the parties began to
negotiate over a new contract. Negotiations proved unsuccessful and,
after the contract expired, the parties began to operate under
short-term extensions of the contract. On September 1, 2002, the
parties practice of operating under short-term extensions of the
contract ceased.
On September 26, the ILWU instructed its members to engage in what
the ILWU terms a safety program, in part to pressure the PMA in
negotiations. The safety program substantially reduced the workers
output. The PMA asserts that productivity fell by sixty percent because
of this conduct. On September 27, the PMA responded with economic
pressure by locking out the bargaining unit. That shut down the West
Coast ports.
The parties began meeting with representatives of the Federal
Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) in early October. Despite
some apparent but limited progress, the parties have been unsuccessful
in resolving their differences. On October 7, the President of the
United States created this Board of Inquiry. The Board conducted a
fact-finding hearing the same day.
Under the national emergency provisions of the Taft-Hartley Act,
the Boards function is to inquire into the issues involved in the
dispute, to ascertain the facts with respect to the causes and
circumstances of the dispute, and to make a written report to the
President. 29 U.S.C. sections 176-177. The Act does not allow the
report of the Board to contain recommendations. Id. 176.
Facts Concerning the Dispute
On October 7, the Board conducted a hearing, closed to the public,
in San Francisco. Representatives of the PMA and the ILWU made oral
presentations and submitted written statements. The Board has carefully
considered the partys presentations and submissions.
Two main issues create the current impasse. As described by the
parties, the fulcrum of the dispute concerns the introduction of new
technology in the ports and the implications of that introduction for
job security and work preservation. The parties also disagree about the
appropriate arbitration process in the next collective bargaining
agreement.
The Technology Issue
Neither party disputes that the employers must implement new
technology. The West Coast ports lag behind in many cases far behind
the efficiency of other ports in the United States and around the
world. Introducing needed technology will eliminate jobs held by marine
clerks of the ILWU. The PMA has offered to guarantee marine clerk work
and pay to the individuals currently holding those jobs until they
retire. Beyond this point, the parties do not agree on how to handle
the jobs to be created, eliminated, and changed by the implementation
of new technology.
The ILWU views the issue as one of work and job preservation. For
years, the ILWU has claimed, and the PMA has denied, that employers of
the PMA have outsourced certain "planning jobs to workers outside of
the ILWU. Planning work is the work of charting the specific placement
of cargo on vessels, dockside yards, and rail cars. To recoup what it
claims to be lost jobs and to counter the possible loss of jobs that
will come with new technology, the ILWU demands that all work that is
functionally equivalent to work now or previously performed by marine
clerks continue to be performed by ILWU members, without regard to
where that work is performed.
In the PMAs view, this ILWU demand would obstruct the free flow of
information. The PMA views this demand as a specific impediment to
modernization. According to the PMA, neither the ILWU nor any other
entity has an exclusive right to process information regarding the
movement of cargo. The PMA counters the ILWU demand with an offer to
have certain new jobs, which the PMA asserts will come with the new
technology, in the bargaining unit. The ILWU argues that the PMA has
not provided any details whatsoever regarding the new jobs promised.
The Arbitration Issue
The essence of the arbitration dispute centers on the
qualifications of prospective arbitrators. Under the expired agreement,
Area Arbitrators quickly resolved disputes on the docks. Area
Arbitrators came from the ranks of union and industry officials. The
agreement also had an appeals process, concluding with the Coast
Arbitrator, a position that for many years has been held by a
professional neutral enjoying the respect of both the PMA and the
ILWU.
The PMA insists that under a new agreement, the successor Coast
Arbitrator should continue to be a professional neutral. The ILWU
insists that the Coast Arbitrator should, like the Area Arbitrators, be
drawn from within the industry.
Other disputes exist between the parties, such as terms involving
wage increases, pension increases, and port security issues. Both
parties, however, anticipate that they could reach agreement on these
matters once the core issues involving technology and arbitration are
resolved.
Boards Comments
We believe that the seeds of distrust have been widely sown,
poisoning the atmosphere of mutual trust and respect which could enable
a resolution of seemingly intractable issues. For example, the parties
have been unable to agree even on such matters as the, length of
proposed temporary contract extensions although both know that their
standoff costs the Nation billions of dollars. We have no confidence
that the parties will resolve the West Coast ports dispute within a
reasonable time.
William E. Brock, Chairman
Patrick Hardin
Dennis Nolan
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