By Lindsay McLaughlin
ILWU Legislative Director

During the last week in April 2004, ILWU President James Spinosa, the other Titled Officers and the Coast Committee led 45 rank-and-file members in Washing-ton, D.C. at the 2004 ILWU Legislative Conference. The mission of the Con-ference was to build political power, to recruit grassroots activists to influence the direction of the country and to move the political debate in on Capitol Hill. The ILWU delegates visited more than 60 members of Congress to discuss four key issues:

• Implementing real port security, including a program to inspect empty containers;
• Defeating the Central American Free Trade Agreement and the subsequent Free Trade Agreement of the Americas;
• Combating the Bush administration’s support for outsourcing American jobs; and
• Passing the Employee Free Choice Act to guarantee workers have the right to organize free of the debilitating obstacles employers now raise.

President Spinosa set the tone of the conference on the opening night. “We will work hard, we will make progress, and we will let Capitol Hill know that the ILWU is here,” Spinosa said. “We all know, however, that to make real progress for working families we are going to have to go home, get involved and get George Bush out of office.”

(Left to right) Dawn Des Brisay, Mary Winzig, Rep. Pete DeFazio (D-OR), Jeff Smith

This was fifth and largest ILWU legislative conference—and the first to include such a full representation of union members. Delegates from the warehouse division, the IBU and a security guards’ local joined those from the longshore division.

“We sent a diversity of members both from Local 142 and the mainland,” Vice President Wesley Furtado said. “We shared our issues and concerns and it worked well.”

An impressive list of speakers addressed the ILWU delegates, including House Minority Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA); Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-MA); Rep. Robert Matsui (D-CA); Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald (D-CA); John Kerry’s deputy political campaign director, David Billy; Presidential candidate Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), and Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chair of the Democratic Caucus and the highest ranking Democrat on the House Labor Committee.

Kevin Clark with House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Jim Saw in the background.

“Our job this year is to throw George Bush out of town,” Miller said, “It is crunch time. There has never been a more dangerous time in our history, with this administration destroying the wage base, gutting protections for workers, shipping jobs overseas, cutting health care benefits and undermining pensions. We have to take the fight to them—like you did during the longshore lockout in 2002.”

Rep. Neil Ambercrombie (D-HI) addresses the ILWU delegation.

Below is a synopsis of ILWU’s key lobbying issues:

PORT SECURITY

The Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2004 includes a provision requiring the Dept. of Homeland Security to study the practices and protocols for empty containers at U.S. ports. Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-HI) wants empty containers entering a port facility to be inspected.

“Empty containers pose a threat today,” he said. “I am concerned that by waiting for a report and the publication of recommendations on how to improve handling of empty containers, we will provide an open window of opportunity for those who seek to do us harm.”

Washington delegation with SEn. Maria Cantwell. (Back, left to right) Paul Pemberton, Willie Adams, Max Vekich, Sen. Cantwell, John Munson, Cager Clabaugh, Michael Forbes, Scott Mason (Front, left to right) Joe Wenzl, Jeff Davis

Inouye vowed to send a letter to Homeland Security signed by as many of his colleagues as possible requesting a clarification of the policy on empty containers. The ILWU agrees with Sen. Inouye and contends that all containers should get some type of security check, which should include inspecting container seals and opening containers marked “empty” to ensure they do not contain contraband, terrorist weapons or even people.

Rep. Bob Filner is working on a similar letter to Homeland Security from members of the House of Representatives. ILWU delegates asked members to sign on.

Southern Califronia delegates (left to right) Emily Noceti, Julie Brady, and Cathy Familathe share a laugh.

Additionally, ILWU delegates gave Congress members fact sheets on the ILWU’s more comprehensive port security policy, which includes the enforcement of current regulations regarding the checks of seals. (The explosion that rocked the Los Angeles TraPac terminal while the ILWU was lobbying in D.C. underscored the urgency of this concern. See pages 2 and 3.)

Terminal operators have lobbied their friends in the Bush Administra-tion to ensure seals would not be inspected when containers enter by sea. The terminal operators say we can rely on the Chinese, Indonesian, and other governments to perform security checks on containers prior to their voyage to America. Containers from abroad must have a security check by American clerks after they have been off-loaded.

The ILWU fact sheet included a plea for Congress to fund port security. Prior to this year, the Bush Administration’s budget proposed nothing for port security. This year the Administration proposed $46 million for port security nationwide. The U. S. Coast Guard has estimated that it would take $7.4 billion to adequately secure U.S. ports.

CENTRAL AMERICAN FREE TRADE AGREEMENT

ILWU delegates lobbied to defeat the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). They asked members of Congress to commit to vote against the agreement. CAFTA is a trade agreement negotiated between the United States and five Central American countries: Guatemala, Hon-duras, El Salvador, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua. The Administration subsequently negotiated a similar agreement to include the Dominican Republic in CAFTA.

ILWU delegates explained why Congress should vote down this free trade agreement. First and foremost, CAFTA directly threatens ILWU jobs. CAFTA places 146,000 sugar producing, refining and shipping jobs in jeopardy—many of them good union jobs. At least 1,000 ILWU jobs tied to the sugar industry could be lost if CAFTA goes into effect. ILWU sugar jobs would be the first to go, because the Hawaii sugar industry must pay additional transportation costs to the West Coast for refining. Other ILWU agricultural jobs may also be in jeopardy if CAFTA is passed. The agreement will eliminate the tariff on fresh pineapples from Costa Rica where labor standards do not come close to meeting the high standards set in Hawaii where ILWU members work.

Secondly CAFTA undermines worker rights. It contains no meaningful labor and environmental standards. It only encourages countries to enforce their own laws. In Central America, where laws fall far below international standards and governments and employers actively oppose unions, this agreement will encourage rampant workers’ rights violations to continue.

CAFTA will clear the way for the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas (FTAA) that would include every country in Central America, South America and the Caribbean, except Cuba. The FTAA, as currently written, would destroy jobs, encourage privatization, increase corporate control and worsen inequality throughout the hemisphere.

The ILWU delegates told members of Congress there are better ways to trade with other countries. A fair trade agreement would include:

• Respect for core workers’ rights, the environment and human rights;
• Protection for industries hit by sudden import surges and unfair trade practices;
• Regulation of big business to protect consumers, workers and the environment;
• Protection from privatization and support for such key public services as health care, education and utilities;
• A fair system of immigration rules that protects the rights of all immigrant workers;
• Sound financial regulation, debt relief and development assistance for poor countries so they can grow and invest in human needs; and
• Meaningful access to and input on trade negotiations and dispute settlement processes for workers and the public.

Labor Standards

The ILWU delegates arrived in town shortly after the Bush administration issued final rules that would take overtime pay away from thousands of working Americans. The Bush rule contains proposals that weaken the overtime eligibility rules and deny overtime pay to workers earning as little as $23,660.

Many ILWU delegates attended a House Education and Workforce Committee hearing to learn more about the Bush efforts to take away overtime pay from American workers. Delegates learned that Bush was lying when he denied the new rules would affect workers making between $23,000 and $100,000. The administration denied overtime to claims adjusters, computer network professionals, Internet workers, database administrators, journalists, mortgage loan officers, funeral directors and embalmers. Additionally, the administration would deny overtime to any worker designated as a “team leader.”

ILWU delegates lobbied for an amendment to the rules proposed by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-SD) that would retroactively repeal any portion of the final Bush overtime regulation that restricts eligibility. If the administration truly believes its new rules do not strip workers of overtime rights, it should have no reason to oppose the Harkin amendment. The Harkin amendment would not repeal any portion of the final regulation that expands coverage for low-income workers.

Shortly after the delegates left the Conference, the Senate considered the Harkin amendment and passed it with 52 votes. Four Republicans crossed the aisle to vote with Democrats to protect overtime pay, including Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK). The ILWU delegates had lobbied her on this issue.

“We have to be relentless in our efforts to keep our issues in front of those who represent us in Congress,” Alaska delegate Pete Hendrickson said.

Besides urging protection for overtime rights, the delegates lobbied for legislation strengthening workers’ right to organize, the Employee Free Choice Act, introduced by Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA), and H.R. 3619 introduced by Rep. George Miller. (See The Dispatcher, October 2003.)

Some 45 million U.S. workers say they would form a union today if given the chance. They want to improve their jobs, gain health care, make sure their jobs are secure and have a say in their working conditions. All across America, workers are lied to, harassed, threatened, coerced, interrogated, disciplined and even fired when they try to exercise their legal right to form a union.

The National Labor Relations Act provides a drawn-out election process that gives employers plenty of opportunity for these abuses, and provides no meaningful penalties for scofflaw employers. The new legislation would make card-check the primary tool for winning union recognition. Workers could have a union if a majority in their shop signed union authorization cards. The new bill would also punish employers for interfering with workers’ right to organize.

Joe Radisich, president of the Southern California District Council, said that before he left Los Angeles, the AFL-CIO asked the ILWU to talk to Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA) about the Employee Free Choice Act. Before the ILWU met with her, she had refused to co-sponsor the legislation.

“We made it very clear how important it was and that we needed her to sign it or we would be very disappointed,” Radisich said. Before the ILWU left Washington, D.C., Rep. Harman signed on as a co-sponsor of the legislation. “That was the highlight of my week,” Radisich said. Rep. Ellen Taucher (D-CA) became a co-sponsor during the week of the ILWU legislative conference.

Outsourcing

Lastly, ILWU delegates told Congress they need to adopt policies to promote American jobs and to fight the Bush administration’s support for outsourcing. Bush reported to Congress that the movement of factory jobs and white-collar work to other countries is part of a positive transformation that will enrich the U.S. economy over time, even if it causes short-term pain and dislocation. Bush’s chief economic advisor, N. Gregory Mankiv, testified before Congress and supported Bush’s position that shifting jobs overseas is a good thing for America.

“Outsourcing is just a new way of doing international trade,” he said. “More things are tradable than were tradable in the past. And that’s a good thing.”

The first thing our government could do to stem the flight of jobs from the U.S. is pass a comprehensive, national, single-payer health care program. Our inefficient health care system adds 30 to 35 percent to the cost of doing business and makes U.S. products and services uncompetitive with the economies of both developing and developed nations. Health care reform is long overdue and, if we are to compete effectively in the global economy, it is imperative that the problem of sky-high health care cost be fixed.

Presidential candidate John Kerry has vowed to get rid of tax breaks for companies that take jobs out of the U.S. Through tax deferral, foreign tax credits and other tax breaks, multinational corporations not only avoid U.S. taxes on their offshore operations, but they get tax subsidies to create jobs overseas. These tax policies must be replaced by policies that focus on job creation here and tax penalties for shipping jobs overseas.

Building political power

When ILWU delegates travel to Washington, D.C., they work harder than any other group of trade unionists anywhere. But we will have limited influence unless we change the politicians in the United States. That means contributing money to the Political Action Fund and manpower for the ILWU program to send rank-and-file ILWU members to states where ILWU-endorsed Presidential candidate John Kerry is locked in a competitive race with the current occupant of the White House.

“We need to raise a million dollars to help those who want to help working families,” said International Secretary-Treasurer Willie Adams. “We have got to give money and we have got to put out more political energy than we have ever put out in our lifetime to change the course of history.”

The conference itself was also a step in building the unity the ILWU will need to face the fight ahead.

“Seeing all the sectors of the union, from pineapple to longshore to Powell’s Books, lobbying together on our issues made the conference a huge success,” said International Vice President Bob McEllrath.