In an attempt to break the stalemate surrounding the West Coast longshore contract negotiations, the ILWU has presented a sweeping proposal on technology to the employer group, the Pacific Maritime Association. The proposal would give the PMA what it has said is its main objective in these talks--the ability to institute computer technology for the free flow of information--in return for the PMA's recognition of ILWU jurisdiction over the jobs that remain and economic enhancements as modeled on the 1960 Mechanization and Modernization Agreement.
The union's proposal will allow information from outside computer systems to flow directly into terminal operating systems at West Coast ports. This information will not have to be "rekeyed" by ILWU marine clerks.
In exchange for this innovation, the union wants to perform all the jobs that remain. These include any new jobs that technology creates, the terminal control and pre-gate supervisor jobs, and the work of planning ships, rails and container yards. Currently, the union performs about 50 percent of planning on the West Coast, with the other 50 percent outsourced to non-bargaining unit workforces. The cost savings and increases in productivity benefiting the employers far outweigh the union consolidation of the remaining planning jobs on the West Coast.
"The union has stepped up and changed the jurisdiction section of our contract dramatically," ILWU International President Jim Spinosa said. "Now it's time for the PMA to meet us."
