Los Angeles/Long Beach Waterfront Labor Negotiations Update

LOS ANGELES, July 2 /PRNewswire/ -- The negotiating teams representing employers at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach released the following statement regarding the status of negotiations with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 63 Office Clerical Unit (OCU):

Harbor employers are set to resume talks with Local 63 OCU tonight in the hope of averting further disruption and reaching fair and reasonable contracts that provide for staffing based on business requirements and that reflect today's economic conditions.

Employers representing 14 carriers and terminal operators at the twin ports have offered the roughly 600 clerical workers represented by Local 63 OCU significant job security guarantees, including protections against layoffs.  The employers have also offered a wage increase, a 10 percent increase in the already extremely generous pension benefit, and maintenance of all in-network PPO health plan benefits despite rising costs.  These offers come on top of the employees' current average annual pay of $96,900, which is the highest for office clerical workers in America.  Despite union claims, the harbor employers have not transferred union-represented employee work overseas and have not proposed to do so.

Local 63 OCU has demanded that the contract include "featherbedding" provisions, which would force the employers to hire temporary and permanent workers even when there is no work for them to perform.  Local 63 OCU has also demanded a 21 percent increase in wages and seeks to dismantle the parties' 2004 agreement to allow use of technology demanded by the employers' customers.

About the Los Angeles/Long Beach Harbor Employers Association

The Los Angeles/Long Beach Harbor Employers Association is a not-for-profit association representing shipping agencies and terminal operators in Southern California. The Association assists its members in matters relating to the employment of ILWU Local 63 office clerical employees, including the administration of the labor contracts of member companies.

SOURCE Los Angeles/Long Beach Harbor Employers Association