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For
Immediate Release: September 27, 2002
PMA rejects tech agreement,
Closes West Coast ports
To
divert attention from its rejection of the ILWU's reasonable
technology proposal, the PMA announced today it will shut down all
West Coast ports with false claims of union slowdowns.
The PMA walked out of negotiations this afternoon after its CEO
Joseph
Miniace launched into a tirade, attacking the union as an
institution
and saying he doesn't want to deal with it anymore.
"Miniace showed the same disrespect for the union he has since
the
beginning of these talks," ILWU International President James
Spinosa
said. "He is unilaterally taking the action of closing all
ports and
bears full responsibility for its effects on the American
economy."
The PMA implemented the lockout even though the union made expansive
proposals for new computer technology the employers have been saying
for
three years was their top priority. But PMA refuses to guarantee
that
the remaining jobs and all the new jobs created by the new
technology
will be ILWU jobs.
"PMA's slanderous allegations of slowdowns during the biggest
speedup in
ILWU history that coincides with a record number of on-the-job
deaths is
literally adding insult to injury and making any progress toward a
contract more difficult," Spinosa said. "Still the ILWU is
prepared to
go back to the table and seek a negotiated settlement."
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