Maritime unions pledge solidarity
Two U.S. longshore unions, three of their affiliates, and the Marine Engineers’ Beneficial Association have formed a new organization to protect “jurisdictions, working conditions and labor rights,” the Journal of Commerce reports.
The Maritime Labor Alliance was announced after meetings this week in Washington between the U.S. unions and Paddy Crumlin, president of the International Transport Workers Federation.
The group’s members pledged “mutual support” to the International Longshoremen’s Association in its current contract negotiations, but did not elaborate.
A statement from the group said Crumlin reported on “a collective, global strategy to ensure that the rights and livelihoods of maritime workers are protected” in automation.
Alliance members are the ILA; the International Longshore and Warehouse Union; MEBA; the American Radio Association and Inlandboatmen’s Union, both affiliated with the ILWU; and the International Organization of Masters, Mates and Pilots, an affiliate of the ILA.
The unions “pledged their mutual support to defeat attacks on bona fide labor unions by organizations intent on undercutting working conditions and displacing incumbent workers.”
The ILA and ILWU have been embroiled in recent jurisdictional disputes with rival unions over jobs in East and West Coast ports.