The International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 63’s
Office Clerical Unit (OCU) has switched positions and voted to ratify a labor
agreement that had been voted down two weeks prior.
Late on Feb. 20, John Fageaux, lead negotiator for ILWU
Local 63 OCU and Stephen Berry, lead negotiator for the employers of the OCU at
the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, released a joint statement saying that
the union’s bargaining units had voted to ratify the terms of the agreement,
which was originally reached with the LA/Long Beach Harbor Employers
Association on Dec. 4, 2012.
Although the two sides appeared to have a deal at the time,
the terms were unanimously rejected by the union’s bargaining units during a Feb.
6 ratification vote. But just two weeks later, the deal was approved by all 16
of the bargaining units, with neither side giving an explanation regarding what
led to the turnaround.
The contract, which affects roughly 600 office clerical
workers and the 14 employer groups at the ports of LA and Long Beach, will run
through June 30, 2016. The clerical staffers had been working without a
contract since their previous three-year pact with management expired June 30,
2010.
Neither the union nor employers association has been willing
to go on the record regarding the labor negotiations, specific details of the
agreement or the rank and file’s rejection of the deal. Both sides acknowledge
however, that the main sticking point had been the outsourcing issue. The union
has contended that management wants to implement new technology that would lead
to fewer flesh and blood workers being necessary.
Although the employers’ group has maintained that
implementation of new technology is needed to improve efficiency, the ILWU has
specifically opposed technology that would allow customers to directly access
booking information, saying it could lead to the outsourcing of jobs.
The union had also sought to have language included in the
contract specifying that workers would not be laid off.
