Dockworkers Refuse to Work in Oakland
Pacific Maritime Association Seeks Arbitrator in Dispute with ILWU
By Bill Mongelluzzo
Journal of Commerce Staff
July 23, 1998

Longshoremen Wednesday morning shut down the Port of Oakland, Calif., in a dispute with waterfront employers that dates back to October 1997. The Pacific Maritime Association, which represents waterfront employers, called Wednesday morning for an arbitrator appointed jointly by the PMA and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union to arbitrate the dispute.

Early Wednesday, the union indicated that its members would not return to their jobs until the afternoon, said Terry Lane, PMA vice president. The labor dispute dates back to last October when longshoremen refused to cross a picket line set up at the Port of Oakland where the vessel Neptune Jade had docked. 

Local labor groups manning the picket lines charged that the vessel had been loaded in England by a stevedoring company that had previously fired 500 union dockers at the Port of Liverpool.

The PMA said the Neptune Jade was not worked in England by the non-union employer, but rather, by a competitor company, so the pickets in Oakland were not justified. Longshoremen in Oakland refused for five days to work the Neptune Jade, and the PMA subsequently sued for damages.

Wednesday's dispute centered around a court hearing in downtown Oakland in which a judge was being asked to block an attempt by the PMA to force the ILWU to turn over documents that would provide information on who participated in the picketing of the Neptune Jade Some longshoremen showed up at the courthouse, while others simply stayed off their jobs Wednesday morning.

"That's the cost of doing business with union busters," ILWU President Brian McWilliams said in a statement. "Don't be misled. This is not about free speech. This is about a misguided protest that cost shippers hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue, damaged customer relations and cost dockworkers five days' pay," Philip R. Resch, PMA's senior vice president of operations, said in a statement.

Oakland Walkout Over; Issues Remain
By Bill Mongelluzzo
Journal of Commerce Staff
July 24, 1998

Dockworkers who shut down the Port of Oakland Wednesday may have returned to their jobs that afternoon, but the issues that precipitated the walkout remain unresolved. At least five vessels were in port when dockworkers showed up at a rally at an Oakland courthouse rather than reporting to their jobs for the 8 a.m. shift.

The dispute between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association, which represents waterfront employers, stems from an incident last October when the vessel Neptune Jade docked at the Port of Oakland.

The ILWU charged the vessel was carrying cargo loaded in England by non-union labor at a port operated by a stevedoring company that had fired 500 union dockworkers.

The PMA maintained the English company in question was not involved in the loading of the vessel, and therefore the picket lines set up by local labor and student groups were illegal.

Dockworkers refused to cross the picket lines, and the vessel sat idle for several days. The PMA subsequently sued for damages. The lawsuit was not filed against the ILWU, but rather the individuals engaged in the picketing.

The PMA has attempted to compel the ILWU to turn over documents believed to contain information on the demonstrators.

"Asking in the lawsuit for the names of persons involved in the demonstrations is customary in civil litigation," the PMA said in a release. The ILWU refuses to turn over any documents relating to the planning and organizing of the picket lines, charging this is a violation of its First Amendment rights.

"The ILWU is refusing to even look to see if it has any of the documents requested," the union said in a release. At the court hearing Wednesday in Oakland, the ILWU said any documents it has were obtained by the union's newspaper, the Dispatcher, and are therefore shielded under a California law that protects source material obtained by journalists.

The judge ordered the ILWU to provide a list of the documents it has and to explain why the information is privileged. Another hearing is scheduled for Aug. 12.

Waterfront employers are concerned that as the case drags on, additional work stoppages might occur. "Over the past two years, the ILWU has caused more than 136 shutdowns at West Coast ports, costing the shipping industry well over $150 million," the PMA stated.