International Longshoremen's Association locals at Charleston have rejected a proposal to allow the port's biggest customer, Maersk Line, to switch from ILA labor to non-union terminal workers.? ?Maersk, which accounts for one-fourth of Charleston's container volume, has threatened to pul l out of the port if it can't reduce its costs. With cargo volumes down, the company has been hit with shortfall fees for failing to meet volume commitments under its contract with the South Carolina State Ports Authority, which runs through 2010.? ?
The ports authority proposed one of two alternatives: Reducing Maersk's space at the Wando Welch terminal and taking back some of the equipment that the port authority is providing the carrier, or shifting Maersk operations at the terminal to a common-use section operated by non-union state employees. Maersk has supported the second option. ? ?
Saying the change would cost dozens of union jobs, the ILA's three Charleston locals rejected the proposal at a meeting Dec. 11. John Alvanos, president of the ILA clerks' local, said costs of union labor at the port are competitive with those of non-union terminal workers. He said a shift by Maersk to a non-union terminal operation would violate the ILA's coastwide master contract.? ?
Maersk had no immediate reaction to the ILA locals' vote.? ?
At Charleston, private stevedores hire ILA labor to load and discharge ships' cargo, but terminal work is a mixture of ILA and non-union workers. A handful of carriers, including Maersk, Evergreen and the CKYH alliance, have ILA labor on sections of port terminals, while common-user sections of port facilities use non-union state employees.
The ports authority proposed one of two alternatives: Reducing Maersk's space at the Wando Welch terminal and taking back some of the equipment that the port authority is providing the carrier, or shifting Maersk operations at the terminal to a common-use section operated by non-union state employees. Maersk has supported the second option. ? ?
Saying the change would cost dozens of union jobs, the ILA's three Charleston locals rejected the proposal at a meeting Dec. 11. John Alvanos, president of the ILA clerks' local, said costs of union labor at the port are competitive with those of non-union terminal workers. He said a shift by Maersk to a non-union terminal operation would violate the ILA's coastwide master contract.? ?
Maersk had no immediate reaction to the ILA locals' vote.? ?
At Charleston, private stevedores hire ILA labor to load and discharge ships' cargo, but terminal work is a mixture of ILA and non-union workers. A handful of carriers, including Maersk, Evergreen and the CKYH alliance, have ILA labor on sections of port terminals, while common-user sections of port facilities use non-union state employees.