A process that began more than a year ago is expected to wrap up successfully Tuesday when the rank and file of the International Longshoremen’s Association vote on a new six-year contract covering workers at all major container ports on the East and Gulf Coasts.
Ratification, which is expected, will end one of the more contentious contract negotiations in recent history.
“Months of stormy negotiations that twice brought East and Gulf Coast ports to the brink of a strike yielded a six-year agreement on March 13 — by coincidence, just as white smoke poured from a Vatican chimney to herald the election of a new pope,” wrote senior editor Joseph Bonney in this week’s edition of the Journal of Commerce.
By comparison, the election of a new pontiff was a walk in the park.
Management got a strong indication that negotiations would not be easy when new ILA president Harold Daggett took office two years ago, promising his members to be fiercely aggressive in the upcoming talks and later hinting that a strike was possible.
“Everyone knew it was going to be a wild ride when Daggett arrived in Tampa in a black Bentley sedan for the March 28, 2012, kickoff of negotiations,” Bonney wrote.
Management, represented by the U.S. Maritime Alliance — or USMX — was also digging in for a fight, determined to keep shipping costs down and to push for changes at the Port of New York/New Jersey, the largest and most expensive port on the East Coast.
Early in the negotiations, U.S. Maritime Association chairman and CEO James Capo described what he called “archaic” practices at the port, such as New York-New Jersey work rules that provide round-the-clock pay for a few hours’ work, and expressed disappointment that the union was not willing to compromise.
In early September, with the two sides basically deadlocked and the Sept. 30 deadline approaching, the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service stepped in, twice brokering contract extensions to avoid strikes.
According to the Journal of Commerce, the new six-year deal, if ratified, will include:
• $1 hourly wage increases in 2014, 2016 and 2017. New workers will advance from the $20/hour starting scale to top scale — currently $32/hour — in six years instead of nine.
• Container royalties — a major sticking point early in the talks — fixes carriers’ royalties at $211 million per year, plus up to $14 million for administration. The ILA and USMX will split any royalties above $225 million.
• Employers pay an additional $1 per hour for local pensions and benefits. Medical coverage stays the same.
• Protection for ILA members displaced by new technology and stronger guarantees of ILA jurisdiction over chassis maintenance and repair in port areas.
Updating deepening plans
At last week’s meeting of the Georgia Ports Authority, executive director Curtis Foltz gave the board an update on the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project, which was green-lighted at the federal level in October of last year.
Design work continues with contracts currently in process, he said, including dissolved oxygen systems, the McCoys Cut diversion structure and fish bypass and the removal of the CSS Georgia.
Designs for the city of Savannah raw water storage impoundment, the outer harbor dredging and the dike raisings for disposal areas are complete, with solicitations for bid drafted.
The Corps of Engineers has drafted 26 scopes of work for environmental monitoring associated with the project — to include monitoring before, during and 10 years post-construction. Real estate appraisals, surveys and other preparatory work for property acquisition are also underway.
But the most critical issue facing the project, Foltz told his board, is that the original approved cost of the project, set nearly 15 years ago, must be increased before any construction contracts can be awarded.
“Our staff has been working with our congressional delegation to have this correction included in an authorization or appropriations bill,” he said. “We are hopeful a provision to raise the authorized project cost will be in the administration’s 2014 budget.”
That budget is expected to be released this week.
One member of Congress actively pushing for the correction is Rep. Paul C. Broun, whose 10th District runs from Athens to Augusta.
Broun, a candidate for retiring U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss’ seat, spent Monday touring Georgia Ports and talking about issues facing the fourth largest container port in the country.
Not surprisingly, deepening the harbor was top of mind.
“Getting this done is critical, not only for economic development in the state, but for the entire Southeast,” he said. “My father was a Georgia state senator for 38 years, serving on numerous committees, including economic development and transportation.
“I grew up understanding the importance of Savannah’s deepwater port.”
Senior business reporter Mary Carr Mayle covers the ports for the Savannah Morning News. She can be reached at 912-652-0324 or at mary.mayle@savannahnow.com.
SHIPPING SCHEDULE
These are the ships expected to call on Georgia Ports Authority’s Garden City and Ocean Terminals in the next week. Sailing schedules are provided by Georgia Ports Authority and are subject to change.
Terminal Ship name Arrival
GCT ZIM COLOMBO Today
GCT ZIM MEDITERRANEAN Today
GCT MSC NURIA Today
GCT OOCL OAKLAND Today
GCT HANJIN SAN DIEGO Today
GCT JAMES RIVER BRIDGE Today
GCT SAIGON EXPRESS Saturday
GCT CSAV LEBU Saturday
GCT MARFRET SORMIOU Saturday
GCT CMA CGM ATTILA Saturday
GCT EVER DYNAMIC Saturday
GCT BUXCLIFF Saturday
GCT ST LOUIS EXPRESS Saturday
OT YASA AYSEN Sunday
GCT NYK DIANA Monday
GCT ZIM SHANGHAI Monday
GCT IBRAHIM DEDE Monday
GCT CMA CGM MATISSE Monday
GCT FRISIA ROTTERDAM Monday
GCT YM EFFICIENCY Monday
GCT AGNES RICKMERS Tuesday
GCT MAERSK DRURY Tuesday
GCT MSC JUDITH Tuesday
GCT ALTAMIRA EXPRESS Tuesday
GCT ZIM TEXAS Tuesday
GCT HANJIN PHILADELPHIA Tuesday
OT TIJUCA Tuesday
GCT MSC MARINA Wednesday
GCT CONRAD S Wednesday
GCT SEA-LAND MERCURY Wednesday
GCT NORTHERN PROMOTION Wednesday
GCT MOL PRESTIGE Wednesday
GCT APL CYPRINE Wednesday
OT TAIKO Wednesday
GCT CMA CGM CORAL Thursday
GCT MSC CAROLE Thursday
GCT VARAMO Thursday
GCT CSAV LINGUE Thursday
GCT MAERSK DANANG Thursday
GCT AKINADA BRIDGE Thursday
GCT HANJIN SAN FRANCISCO Thursday
OT TALISMAN Thursday