Longshore Hiring Process Will Bring 3,000 New Workers to Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach
For Immediate Release: July 29, 2004
Contact: John Showalter 415-775-0533 x117
(San Francisco, CA) The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) today announced a new hiring process that will bring as many as 3,000 new workers to the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. At the same time 1,000 current identified casuals will be promoted to Class B limited registration status.
“This is a first step toward alleviating this year’s peak season cargo backlog,” said Dave Arian, the president of ILWU Local 13, based in Wilmington, which currently represents nearly 10,000 longshore workers. “But manpower is not the whole answer to the growing infrastructure crisis our ports are facing. If we don’t address railroad backlogs, improvements to trucking systems, and the need for remote yards the congestion will ultimately stifle the flow of goods.”
Over the last few weeks the ILWU has negotiated with the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), which represents the shipping companies that operate cargo terminals, on how to help relieve the growing congestion in southern California ports. The agreement announced today establishes a random drawing system for selecting potential job applicants for the highly coveted dock jobs.
“We welcome these potential new longshore workers who have the opportunity to join a skilled work force that is vital to the economy of our country,” ILWU Coast Committeeman Ray Ortiz, Jr. said. “As they get tested and trained and hired we will also be bringing current experienced ‘casual’ workers into the full-time work force to help alleviate the skilled manpower shortage in these ports.”
In the coming weeks 1,000 workers who have been casual employees will be registered as Class B longshore workers. At the same time 100 longshore workers from ILWU Local 13 will be given the opportunity to transfer into the marine clerks union, ILWU Local 63.
“Our goal is to put people with skills into the right places on the docks so we can ease container congestion,” Ortiz said. “This year we are facing a convergence of container congestion with huge new mega-ships bringing larger and larger loads into the ports and with the American public demanding more and more imports. With growth predicted at more than 10 percent a year well into the future we need all the skilled workers we can train and promote.”
