By Todd Iverson
A 67-member delegation of ILWU members descended on Whittier, Alaska June 8 to press Carnival Cruise Lines to go back to using local longshore labor in the loading and unloading of passenger baggage in the cruise ships that dock there.
The entire delegation, along with several of ILWU Alaska longshore members, met at 10 a.m. in Anchorage at the Inlet Tower Hotel the day before to learn about the issues and discuss the game plan. A half-dozen members volunteered to help assist the local longshore force in the unloading of the vessel Spirit with the shift beginning at 1:30 a.m. Enthusiasm was high to take these living-wage, American-based jobs back from the foreign crew members. ILWU workers make $29 an hour to secure vessels on the docks, handle baggage and load cargo on cruise ships in Whittier. The cruise lines’ predominantly foreign crew typically makes $1 to $1.50 an hour.
Later that afternoon, the delegation boarded a chartered bus for the one-hour ride south. Whittier is a quiet little town, tucked inside of a fjord that leads to Prince William Sound.
Whittier longshore workers originally were contracted to take passenger baggage from bus or train to the ship where fellow longshore workers accepted the cargo inside the ship’s hold. But midway through the 2004 season, Carnival refused to allow ILWU personnel onto the ship, denying ILWU Alaska members their traditional jobs. For a year the ILWU tried diplomatic means with Carnival to regain the work, but the Miami-based carrier refused. The Alaskan longshore workers were elated to receive support from the delegation, all of whom understood that had Carnival succeeded in Whittier, it would likely try this in other ports, as would other carriers.
“We had fought unsuccessfully with no progress,” ILWU Alaska President Carl Norman said. “It is great to be part of an organization that takes care of each other,” he added about the support that flew up from California, Oregon, Washington and Canada.
While the weather had been pleasant in Anchorage, Whittier offered another scenario. Snow capped mountains that hugged the bay were socked out of view by low-lying clouds. A constant cold wind and persistent rain showers greeted the delegation when the protest began at 1:30 a.m. Carnival personnel were overwhelmed by the strong showing of support, but still would not allow longshore workers aboard the vessel. Management let them load bags from the dock to the bus, but didn’t allow them on board ship to unload the luggage to the dock. When the gang then refused to touch the baggage on the dock, wanting all the work, not just some of it, Southeast Stevedoring locked out the ILWU. For the next five hours, superintendents from Southeast Stevedoring and crew members of the Spirit worked the forklifts and handled the bags.
Meanwhile dozens of ILWU members, despite a ceaseless biting wind, protested in the parking lot with signs stating foreign workers were taking American jobs. For a few hours the mood became disheartening as the delegation helplessly watched superintendents and crew members performing ILWU work. Legs became tired and bones increasingly cold. At 6 a.m., a representative from Carnival asked the local police to remove the longshore protestors from the premises, and the delegation was forced to continue their action from the sidewalk.
At 11 a.m. the entire group met in the hotel to plan a new strategy for the upcoming day shift to reload the vessel when a new group of tourists arrived. Beginning at 1 p.m. buses and trains of Carnival customers began arriving to be dropped off for their cruise. Two dozen volunteers signed up to form a primary crew and backup crew in case the first gang was fired or replaced. But as the first gang arrived at the dock, the superintendent from Southeast Stevedoring informed them that they would be paid, but not allowed to do the work. At this point something needed to break the stalemate.
A half dozen Alaskan State Troopers had arrived by noon to back up Carnival’s armed security guards. Signs and flyers were remade stating that the ILWU was locked out and American jobs were being done by foreign workers. While the weather had failed to be postcard worthy up to this point, mother nature unleashed its full fury with a hard, steady rain blown sideways from the Arctic-inspired winds. When the buses full of Carnival passengers began to arrive, the ILWU members decided it was time to make their stand.
“Nothing was happening and we felt we weren’t getting anywhere,” said Stephen Hanson of Local 8.
Most of the delegation stood at the driveway in front of the large chartered bus, impeding its progress. The bus driver inched ahead but the members would not flinch or back down. After five minutes of posturing by both sides, the police intervened and began arresting individuals for disorderly conduct and obstruction of a roadway, including Michael Kennedy and Don Faker of Local 23, Stephen Hanson of Local 8, Gilbert Nelson of the Alaska longshore division and Booker T. Stevens from Local 19.
“The best part of being arrested was I got to sit in a warm police car and watch the others get drenched,” Hanson said.
The next arriving buses were stopped on the street, where the passengers had to walk a hundred yards through the elements and dozens of ILWU protestors handing out flyers explaining the situation.
“We were there trying to make a point, and when the passengers got off the bus, we had to show that protecting our jobs was worth being arrested,” Local 23 member Don Faker said after being released from jail.
The arrested members were taken to Anchorage, booked and cited and released later that night on $500 bail each. The day’s protest was the lead on the evening news in Anchorage and covered by the daily paper.
The following week, Carnival and Southeast Stevedoring agreed to return the disputed jobs to the ILWU, saving American jobs and retaining the work for the ILWU.
“There was a lot of back and forth, some posturing,” said ILWU Alaska President Carl Norman. “We finally convinced them that it was in their best interest to return that work to U.S. citizens. Without the support from the rest of the coast, it would not have happened.”
