By James Spinosa
ILWU International President

Tragedy struck the ILWU family again Aug. 19. That day, at the Port of Tacoma’s Evergreen terminal, Local 23 casual Kim Miles lost her life in a horrible accident. The cause of the incident is still under investigation and it will be a while before we know exactly what went wrong. But its meaning for the future of safety on West Coast docks is undeniable.

This is the fourth ILWU longshore worker to be killed on the job in the last nine months. In an 18-month time span during 2001-2002 we lost six of our brothers to fatal industrial accidents, by far the worse period in West Coast safety in recent history. On top of this, there are the hundreds of disabling injuries that occur each year on our docks.

Almost everyone working on the docks any length of time has a story of an accident or close call or of seeing one happen. Every day we strap on our work boots and hard hats we should pause and think about the ones who are no longer with us and the ones waiting at home for us to return.

We should also stop and think about why these accidents are happening so frequently and what we can do about it. There are a few factors working against us, and we need to recognize them and work to minimize their effects.

The first and most obvious one is the working environment on today’s modern docks. Take a look around you and what you see is an impressive collection of giant, fast-moving machinery—cranes, straddle carriers, top handlers, side handlers and yard hustlers, each weighing many tons and all racing to get the job done. With those massive objects running at that speed, a simple slip of sequence can be catastrophic. It’s like trying to work on a freeway. Add to that the outside truck traffic congesting the area, restricted spaces to work in and the employer’s constant pressure for productivity, and you have a disaster waiting to happen.

The only way to really learn your role in this complex process is through experience and training. One of the challenges we are facing these days is the influx of new people in the workforce. With the early retirement incentives built into our last longshore contract, many experienced longshore workers have left us. The huge increase in international seaborne trade coming to U.S. West Coast ports has made it necessary to hire more workers. Our longshore workforce has increased by 3,000 in the last two years—up from 10,500 to 13,500. This has opened the door for a new generation to share in the opportunity and prosperity of the longshore life. At the same time, they need to learn not just the proper way to operate their equipment, but how to do it to save life and limb—not only their own, but that of their brothers and sisters on the docks.

Let us be clear here: the problem is not with our new members. Our history has shown that with the proper training, ILWU longshore workers are as efficient and productive as any in the world. Much of the problem lies with our employer’s approach to training and safety.

General Safety Training is offered to all ILWU workers, but only once every three years. And that is only a one eight-hour session taught in a classroom by an employer instructor who has no practical longshore experience. In other industries workers undergo safety training annually, and in some cases, even monthly. Our work is just as dangerous and hazardous as any, and we need and deserve more frequent safety training that is more detailed and focused on the different job classifications we work.

One thing we have learned over the years is that we cannot depend on state or federal Occupational Safety and Health Agencies (OSHA) to monitor and enforce safety. This is especially true under the Bush administration, which has loosened standards and cut back on inspection and enforcement.

The employer’s lack of concern for our safety was never more obvious than in the 2002 negotiations. Our practice for decades has been to negotiate our longshore safety code separately but side-by-side with the rest of our longshore contract.

In the 2002 bargaining, the employers’ representatives on their safety negotiating committee just said "No" to almost every proposal we put on the table. They refused our proposal to install speedometers on yard equipment so operators would know when they were exceeding safe speed limits. The employers were clear—your safety is not worth their investment, especially when it may affect productivity.

We negotiate our longshore safety regulations as fiercely as we negotiate the rest of our contract. That’s because the wages, benefits and pensions we win don’t mean a thing if you aren’t around to enjoy them. So guard your safety code as much as you would your health care and, hopefully, you won’t have to use your health care as much.

Read your safety code booklet and know your best practices and your rights. Follow the guidelines and protect yourself and the worker next to you. Always do a good job, but don’t buy into the employer’s speedup and quotas if that means violating our safety standards.

The employer always pushes for more production at our expense—but it’s up to us to curtail that.