Open
World Conference of Workers
In Defense of Trade Union Independence & Democratic Rights
ILWU Denounces Taft-Hartley as Anti-Union Employer-Government Collusion
Oct. 9, 2002
ILWU members will return to work today after a federal judge ordered the
PMA to open the ports and let the workers back in to their jobs. But the
union is angry that the Bush administration gave PMA the gift it
blackmailed businesses, farmers and consumers for-the Taft-Hartley
injunction.
The Taft-Hartley Act was passed in 1948 as an anti-union law. It enjoins
both the employers and the union to return to the conditions of the old
contract for 80 days. But its provisions for fines, contempt of court
citations and prison sentences for those violating the terms of the
contract are aimed at workers.
"We fully expect PMA to use all the anti-union provisions of the
Taft-Hartley injunction. These 80 days will not be a 'cooling off
period,'" said ILWU International President James Spinosa. "PMA
will start alleging 'slowdowns' by Thursday and will continue that.
Taft-Hartley gives them 80 days of free shots at the union and we expect
the employers will be dragging us to court daily, trying to bankrupt the
union and throw our leaders in jail."
The PMA's nearly two-week long lockout, coming at the busiest time in the
history of the West Coast, has created a monstrous backlog of cargo.
Clearing out these clogged docks will be a logistical nightmare that will
take many weeks. PMA has already stated that it expects productivity to be
at normal levels during these 80 days-a physical impossibility-or it will
cry "slowdown."
All terminals will need a full compliment of workers to be dispatched from
union hiring halls. But those orders will be impossible to fill. PMA has
previously accused the union of withholding labor when orders exceeded the
number of workers available or not enough skilled workers were dispatched.
Ironically, it is PMA's responsibility to register more longshore workers
and to provide training. The union has long pushed for more registration
and training for its members, but PMA regularly stalls those requests.
The congestion and gridlock on the docks also creates an extreme workplace
hazard. The speedup of this peak season has resulted in an increase of
accidents and injuries and a record number of fatalities-five in the last
six months-in an industry the U.S. Dept. of Labor cited as second only to
mining as the most dangerous occupation in the country.
"We are tired of burying our people," Spinosa said. "All
PMA President Joe Miniace ever talks about is how many containers get
moved how fast. You never hear him cite statistics of the deaths and
injuries, of the human toll of his profits."
The Taft-Hartley injunction requires the parties to abide by the terms of
the old contract and the safety regulations are a part of that contract.
In compliance with the court order, the ILWU has instructed its members to
obey the letter of those regulations and to follow all mandated
procedures. The preamble of the safety code says that "In a question
of tonnage vs. safety, safety first."
PMA wanted Taft-Hartley
Although the PMA is saying it regrets Taft-Hartley was invoked, this was
what the employers planned all along. They had ample time and offers to
avoid it if they wanted to.
From the beginning of the lockout PMA said it would open the ports if the
union would only sign a day-to-day contract extension. On Sunday, Oct. 6
the ILWU offered something more-a seven-day extension-but PMA suddenly
changed terms and demanded 90 days. On Tuesday, Oct 8, minutes before Bush
went on national TV, PMA rejected a deal the White House was trying to
broker-a 30-day contract extension. The ILWU had already agreed to it.
The 80 days of the Taft-Hartley injunction gets PMA through the peak
shipping season and to the slowest time of the year, relieving companies
of any urgency to bargain. They also get the bonus prize of being able to
harass the union in court for 80 days.
Back in January 2002 Miniace previewed to the press his plan to lockout
the union. He also bragged about taking out a $200 million line of credit
to help PMA last through the lockout.
Robin Lanier, the head of the West Coast Waterfront Coalition, the
retailer group PMA set up in Washington, D.C. to lobby on its behalf, told
her members last spring that they should prepare to hold out for a
two-week lockout.
In mid-June an attorney with the Bush administration's Dept. of Labor
threatened the ILWU with the Taft-Hartley injunction, with special
legislation to take away the union's legal rights to collectively bargain
and to strike and with sending in military personnel to seize the ports
and operate them as scabs and strikebreakers. (L.A. Times 7-5-02)
"No one should be surprised by the turn of these events,"
Spinosa said. "Bush has always actively sided with employers against
workers. This collusion between the government and the employers was
planned well in advance."
This Taft-Hartley injunction sets an ominous precedent for the American
labor movement.
In a statement given to CNN yesterday AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard
Trumka called the President's invocation of Taft-Hartley "a tragedy
with historic ramifications."
This is the first time in history that an employer lockout was used
aggressively to implement the anti-union Taft-Hartley law. The message to
employers is that you can create a crisis by locking out your workers and
then get the government to intervene with Taft-Hartley that violates all
the rights of workers to collective bargaining.
"This is the most egregious attack on workers rights in 50
years," Ron Judd, AFL-CIO Western Regional Director. " If they
can do it to the ILWU, they can do it to any union."
For more information call ILWU Communications Director Steve Stallone at
415-775-0533 ext. 114 (office) or 510-390-4748 (cell) or see www.ilwu.org