Longshoremen protest pending Del Monte move to non-union facility
Updated 1:30 p.m. ET 9/28/10
Picket lines by longshoremen from Philadelphia caused work stoppages at all six container terminals in the Port of New York and New Jersey on Tuesday, when terminal workers who are members of the International Longshoremen's Association refused to cross the Philadelphia ILA picket lines despite a court injunction issued on Monday.
The Philadelphia longshoreman were picketing the terminals to protest the pending move by Del Monte Fresh Produce of 75 ship calls a year from an ILA terminal in Camden, N.J. to a non-ILA facility in Gloucester, N.J. that is owned by the Holt family. The Philadelphia ILA claims the Del Monte move will cost the union 200 jobs.
The Philadelphia ILA members shut down work at the New York Container Terminal on Staten Island, APM Terminals and Maher Terminal in Port Elizabeth, N.J., the Port Newark Container Terminal, Global Marine Terminal in Bayonne, N.J., and the Red Hook Container Terminal in Brooklyn. The only terminal that remained open was the passenger cruise terminal.
I just don't know what to say.
First off, despite what the U.S. Government says it has done to "clean up" the unions from Mob influence, it just hasn't happened.
The ILA and the Mob go hand-in-hand, and so, the ILA doesn't know how to do anything to benefit it's members except for heavy-handed tactics.
Too bad they don't learn how to improve productivity, get rid of the incredibly antiquated way of billing carriers and/or terminals. It's sad that the U.S. terminals are so far behind others around the world in terms of productivity. The cost to load or unload a container in NY is more than twice what it is in Rotterdam.
Once the railroads get their trackage increased across the U.S., the ocean carriers will really have some more options to move their containers, and will be able to avoid the Northeast U.S. ports.
The ILA might just be shooting themselves in the foot.
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