|
Help Dockworkers Threatened by Bush Administration
West coast dockworkers are working without a contract because their employers, supported by shoe companies like Payless ShoeSource, Stride Rite and Cole Haan, have not bargained to reach a deal. Their intransigence has been supported by Bush administration threats to use troops to run the docks in the event of a lockout or a strike. Tell the shoe companies--who are among the biggest users of the West Cost docks--to join the call for fair and just bargaining.
| Sample Letter for Campaign |
Subject:
Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,
As an importer of shoes at West Coast ports, the outcome of bargaining between workers in the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) could impact your company. I am writing because you can help put negotiations on the right track.
The ILWU has agreed in principle to sweeping changes the PMA has requested to make the ports even better than they are today. So far, the PMA wants to keep higher profits to themselves--refusing to share with the workers and dragging out the negotiations. In exchange for improving the efficiency on the docks, ILWU members want firm commitments that the jobs of current and future longshore workers will be protected, that there will be no cuts in existing medical benefits, and improvements in their pensions.
An important reason for the PMA's intransigence is the unwarranted threats of intervention--including the use of Navy personnel--the Bush administration has made against longshore workers.
Your company is a member of the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America (FDRA). The FDRA and your company participate directly in the West Coast Waterfront Coalition (WCWC), which consulted with the Bush administration while its threats were formulated and delivered.
The Bush administration's inappropriate and disturbing attempts to bully the ILWU have given the PMA the confidence of government support, and therefore no incentive to bargain seriously. This makes a confrontation more--not less--likely.
As a shipper, you have a special stake in assuring that the parties reach an agreement without resorting to a strike or a lockout, and without government intervention--any of which could seriously disrupt the loading and unloading of freight and its timely delivery to customers. To get negotiations on the right track, the footwear industry should stop interfering in the collective bargaining process between dockworkers and the PMA. I urge your company and the FDRA to disassociate from the WCWC. I also urge you to tell the PMA to bargain fairly and to tell the Bush administration to stay out of bargaining.
Sincerely,
|
Campaign Launched:
September 10, 2002
|
Some 16,000 dock workers await the outcome of contract negotiations between their union, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), and West Coast port employers. But the Bush administration, according to both the union and news reports, is wasting little time muscling in on the talks.
The workers' contract expired July 1, but in a show of good faith their was extended while talks continued. The heart of the negotiations centers around the employers' attempt to slash workers' health benefits and introduce new technology aimed at outsourcing union jobs rather than train union workers to operate the new technology as has been the practice in previous contracts.
On August 6, the Associated Press reported the Bush administration is considering using troops to keep West Coast ports open in the event of a strike or lockout by management. Steve Stallone, ILWU communications director, said that in a meeting with union negotiators, a Labor Department lawyer "threatened to bring in the National Guard to militarily take over the ports."
Even a representative of the employers' group, the Pacific Maritime Association, said the Bush administration has sought to influence the negotiations. "I can confirm that we have been contacted by the administration. They've made it very plain that they want a settlement without any disruptions," said Jack Suite, PMA's director of contract administration.
The AFL-CIO Executive Council strongly condemned the Bush administration's actions.
"The Bush administration is threatening the ILWU with military action in support of a lockout of the ILWU workers in the event of an impasse in negotiations. The mere threat of intervention is an unconscionable effort to bolster the PMA's contract demands and threatens the legitimate collective bargaining rights of longshore workers. On a larger scale, the threatened use of federal troops to determine the outcome of a collective bargaining dispute undermines the basic civil rights of the labor movement and all American workers," the council said in a statement issued at its August 6-7 meeting in Chicago.
Along with the military threats, a Bush administration task force is reported to be considering declaring a national economic emergency, which would delay any possible strike by 80 days, or introducing federal legislation stripping the ILWU dockworkers of their collective bargaining rights under the National Labor Relations Act and placing the workers under the more restrictive Railway Labor Act. Bush has used the provisions of the NRLA to intervene in two airline disputes since taking office.
|
