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Local issues slow down US east and Gulf Coast contract talks
来源：shippingazette 编辑：编辑部 发布：2023/08/02 09:05:43
US EAST and Gulf Coast dockers have started talks on local issues, such as work jurisdiction, rather than the master contract with the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX), reports New York's Journal of Commerce.
The dockers union, the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA), wants "ironclad language" that will help it retain work jurisdiction at ports, according to chief union negotiator Dennis Daggett.
But only 14 ports have settle local issues, said Mr Daggett. That lack of progress on the local level has stalled movement on a new master contract covering 45,000 dockers.
Previous contract talks have started with the master contract, which covers wages and union-wide benefits, then settled local issues. But ILA vice president Daggett said the union wanted to settle local issues first because "local management doesn't bargain in good faith, and hides behind the no-strike clause, and says the master contract is enough, we're not giving any more."
Only local unions at the ports of New York and New Jersey and Baltimore have come to tentative terms on local issues, Mr Daggett said.
Maritime employers in other ports "have not taken the talks seriously" either because they first want to see the outcome of the master contract talks or because the master contract does not expire until September 2024, he said.
"We want ironclad language because years after we sign a contract, everyone gets amnesia," he said.
The dockers union, the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA), wants "ironclad language" that will help it retain work jurisdiction at ports, according to chief union negotiator Dennis Daggett.
But only 14 ports have settle local issues, said Mr Daggett. That lack of progress on the local level has stalled movement on a new master contract covering 45,000 dockers.
Previous contract talks have started with the master contract, which covers wages and union-wide benefits, then settled local issues. But ILA vice president Daggett said the union wanted to settle local issues first because "local management doesn't bargain in good faith, and hides behind the no-strike clause, and says the master contract is enough, we're not giving any more."
Only local unions at the ports of New York and New Jersey and Baltimore have come to tentative terms on local issues, Mr Daggett said.
Maritime employers in other ports "have not taken the talks seriously" either because they first want to see the outcome of the master contract talks or because the master contract does not expire until September 2024, he said.
"We want ironclad language because years after we sign a contract, everyone gets amnesia," he said.