By Frank Swoboda Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, January 5, 2002; Page E01
The highest paid longshoreman on the West Coast docks earns $340,000 a year. That's a job worth protecting.
Average pay for members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) ranges from $105,278 to $167,122, depending on the job category. Part-time workers on the docks can earn as much as $70,000 a year.
But money isn't the issue as the union prepares to sit down with the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), which represents shipping companies, in what are expected to be contentious negotiations. The West Coast longshoremen's contracts expire in July, and the unions are gearing up for a fight over an issue that could be far more difficult than wages: the introduction of technology that both sides agree will result in fewer dockworkers' jobs.
The West Coast docks are crucial to the commerce of the nation, handling 52 percent of all waterborne imports to the United States -- equal to about 7 percent of the nation's gross domestic product. An estimated $257 billion in merchandise -- chemicals, machinery, hair dryers, computers and thousands of others products -- enters the United States through West Coast ports.
Over the years, various shipping innovations have reduced the number of West Coast dockworkers to about 10,000 permanent longshoremen and 5,000 part-time workers. Those relatively low numbers mean that shipping companies do not object to the six-figure wages. Longshoremen's pay adds up to slightly more than 1 percent of the cargo value they handle -- costs that are "negligible," a top PMA official said.
What troubles the PMA is that Pacific ports -- from Bellingham, Wash., to San Diego -- are running out of room. The shippers see only two alternatives: Either the docks must use technology to improve their productivity, which would enable them to handle more shipments, or they must face losing business to Canada and Mexico.
The union sees it differently. "It's an attempt to bust the union," said an ILWU official. Union officials say that job security, for the current workforce as well as future generations of longshoremen, is key.
The PMA has sought assistance from the Bush administration but acknowledges that it may be difficult to convince the government to intervene in the event of a strike or a significant work slowdown. For one thing, it is unclear whether the Labor Department or the Transportation Department has jurisdiction over labor disputes at ports.
Contract negotiations are scheduled to start in May, although union leaders have moved up a pre-bargaining caucus to this month, a sign that talks might start sooner.
To bolster their argument, PMA officials point to Asian ports that have overcome space constraints by automating their operations. In Singapore, for example, a single crane operator working from an air-conditioned cab high over the cargo yards and using computers can quickly shuffle the containers onto waiting trucks as needed.
In contrast, on the West Coast docks, each crane has a crew of four: two crane operators, a clerk and a signalman. Instead of using a computer information system to locate the proper container -- as the Singapore operator does -- the West Coast crews put someone in a pickup truck and have him drive around to find it.
The shippers' association wants the ILWU to agree to computerize and modernize its operations to allow a quicker turnaround of cargoes, although it is not pushing for a system as automated as the one in Singapore.
"The model we're looking at is the free flow of information," where data would travel directly from terminal operators to the ship and the yard, said PMA President Joseph Miniace.
The proposed change would eliminate many of the clerk's duties on the crane crew. The PMA estimates that the technology it proposes would eliminate 50 percent of the clerks, or about 1,000 jobs.
PMA officials say all job reductions would be made through attrition and that no one would face a wage cut. The shippers group also says they would protect the money in the longshoremen's 401(k) savings plans and provide training for new jobs on the docks.
Furthermore, the PMA predicts that in seven to 10 years the number of full-time dockworkers would rise again, hitting the 12,000 level, because of a growth in trade.
The PMA said sophisticated information technology would also enable docks to install a scheduling system that would give truckers a precise time to show up to unload or pick up cargo. Because the West Coast docks now lack such a system, trucks have to wait for hours. At the port at Long Beach, Calif., trucks are backed up outside the port gates an average of 2 1/2 hours.
By contrast, in Singapore, where there is a scheduling system for trucks, the wait is less than a minute. Such a system would cut down on congestion, eliminate pollution and speed up the loading and unloading process, the PMA says.
In Hong Kong, the use of computer technology means the docks can handle an average of 15,000 cargo containers per acre because they can move cargo so quickly. That compares with the West Coast's average of 3,000 cargo containers.
The PMA would also like the union to allow shippers to stack containers higher in the dockyards. A PMA official said the union has insisted on a limit of five containers in a stack, although federal safety rules under the Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration allow eight. The union has argued in the past that stacking the containers higher is unsafe.
ILWU President James Spinosa declined to talk about the upcoming negotiations. "He's concerned about laying out his position in advance," said union spokesman Steve Stallone. But the union says saving and expanding union jobs is its top goal.
"It's about keeping the work. Whatever work is done, we do it," said Stallone. "We want a share of any growth."
The PMA acknowledges that without the new technology, West Coast longshoremen jobs would probably grow to 20,000 over the next 20 years. But after that, Miniace insists, the number would begin to drop sharply as shippers opt for modern and less expensive Mexican and Canadian ports that will be going into operation.
"We will crumble in 20 years" without the changes, Miniace said.