Socialist Action /September 2002
ILWU Dockworkers Need an Emergency Conference
of Labor!
By CHARLES WALKER
West Coast dockworkers, members of the International Longshore and Warehouse
Union (ILWU), find themselves facing the combined enmity of their bosses
and the political and military power of the world's dominant state and the
ruling class that stands behind it.
The shipping bosses act like they have the high ground, demanding a long
list of concessions, says James Spinosa, ILWU president: "Every proposal
they [the bosses] have brought to the table was full of takeaways. They
didn't leave anything out, from maintenance of [medical] benefits, to the
dispatch hall, to the arbitration system and the workplace."
The dockworkers' leaders have attempted to avoid the full brunt of the
bosses' attack by conceding the jobs of several hundred workers, asking
in return that the union's jurisdiction over shipping container yards away
from the waterfront and certain computerized work be recognized by the shipping
and terminal bosses. But the bosses spurned the ILWU's offer.
When the union negotiators asked for and received from an 82-member union
body the authority to take a strike vote at some unspecified time, the corporate
press responded by publicizing a callous battle plan, drawn up by the Bush
administration, in consultation with the bosses. Should the union strike,
or its members even be accused of slowing the pace of work, the press reported,
the federal government would intervene up to and including the military
takeover of the docks.
"Soon after negotiations between dockworkers and shipping lines
began in mid-May," the Aug. 5 Los Angeles Times revealed, "the
White House convened a working group to monitor them, with representatives
from the departments of Commerce, Labor and Transportation and the Office
of Homeland Security.
"[A]n internal memo from an employers association shows that the
White House group met with representatives of shipping lines and major retailers
during its formation, on June 4. At the time, officials solicited ideas
for 'concrete steps the administration might take to back up strong statements'
it might make to the union. Employers were given a direct phone line to
senior economics advisor Carlos Bonilla."
While the joint government and dock bosses' strategy has a short-term
goal of breaking a dockworkers' strike in order to facilitate the acceptance
of a concessionary contract, the LA Times reported there's also a long-term
goal of breaking-up "the coast-wide bargaining unit into bargaining
by individual ports. That would allow shippers to stagger contract expiration
dates, eliminating the threat of a coast-wide action, and thus would allow
cargo to be diverted to neighboring ports in the event of a strike."
The Bush administration has not just talked with the bosses, but also
to the union's leadership. The LA Times reported that the feds have "made
almost daily phone calls" to the ILWU, laying out four "options,"
a weasel word for the threats: First, the declaration of a national emergency
and the invoking of the Taft-Hartley Act to delay a strike for 80 days.
Second, running the ports with Navy personnel. Third, breaking up the
ILWU coast-wide bargaining unit. Fourth, bringing the union under the Railway
Labor Act, which "gives courts and the administration far more power
to prevent strikes and impose contract settlements than does the National
Labor Relations Act, which governs most private sector labor negotiations."
The Los Angeles Times report concluded, "National labor leaders,
including the AFL-CIO, are watching the ILWU talks closely as a bellwether
for future negotiations in which the White House also might intervene."
Dockworkers and their leaders must be hoping that the national labor
leaders, including the AFL-CIO, are doing more than just watching the contract
talks that may have reached an impasse and the union officials are doing
more than noting the politicians' threats that imperil the dockworkers and
their union.
That "strategy" was followed by the national labor leaders,
including the AFL-CIO, when the air controllers wouldn't roll over in 1980;
and, as is widely acknowledged, that "strategy" failed all U.S.
workers. It's often said that the air controllers' dismal fate was sealed
when the AFL-CIO, headed by Lane Kirkland, ignored the air controllers'
plight, as though all U.S. workers didn't have a stake in the outcome of
the air controllers' battle. Even more often it's said that the breaking
of the air controllers union sent a signal to corporate America that it
was open season on unions and workers' standard of living.
If it's admitted that all workers have a stake in the outcome of the
dockworkers' unequal confrontation with the shipping bosses, many of whom
are foreign-owned companies, and the Bush administration that admittedly
is preparing to play the Carter-Reagan anti-labor card, than all workers
should have a say in how the battle is conducted.
Of course, that's not feasible, except through a vote by workers. But
it is feasible for the national labor leaders, including the AFL-CIO, to
call an emergency conference of unions and workers to discuss the government's
attack on the dockworkers and to democratically decide on a course of action
to protect the vital interests of all U.S. workers that are at stake.
Whatever the local and national labor leaders, including the AFL-CIO,
do, they mustn't be allowed to repeat the failed "strategy" of
1980, when they stood by as air controllers' leaders were hauled away to
jail in chains.
At press time, the dockworkers have secured a tentative agreement
from the bosses on union demands covering health care benefits for active
workers and retirees.
Weeks ago, the union agreed to give up several hundred jobs, but they
are seeking jurisdiction over new work to provide the union with a net gain
of jobs.
For now, the odds of a coastwide strike have lessened, but the threat
of government intervention, including the use of military personnel to move
cargo, still looms over the negotiations.
Socialist Action /September 2002 |