The 2002 Coastwise Contract Negotiations
40th ITF Congress Vancouver, Canada 2002 The ITF Dockers' Section conference yesterday unanimously backed a call
for "maximum support and solidarity" with the dockers' union, the
ILWU. The emergency motion carried by delegates said that unions should
"take whatever action they can within their national laws until the
ILWU achieves a fair settlement". The motion noted that the ILWU has a tradition of support for other ITF
affiliates and for contributions to international solidarity and the ITF's
flag of convenience campaign. The union is currently locked in a bitter stand-off with the Pacific
Maritime Association, representing US port employers from Alaska to
California, over demands for the introduction of new technology which, says
the union, would spell thousands of job cuts over the years and the removal
of jobs from the scope of the collective bargaining agreement. The employers' demands form part of negotiations with the ILWU on a new
three-year contract. The US government is reported to have threatened to
invoke emergency legislative powers to delay any strike action by the ILWU
and to use troops to carry out dockers' work. The employers meanwhile have threatened to tear up the union agreement
and force the union to negotiate port by port. Moving the unanimously
carried motion at the Dockers' Section Conference, Bob Crow, of the British
RMT transport union, warned that fine words on paper were not enough to
defeat employer attempts to smash trade unionism. "An attack on the ILWU is an attack on every dockers' union in the
international trade union movement," he added. His words were welcomed
by Bob McEllrath, First Vice President of the ILWU, who said that
off-the-record threats to his union had been made from government officials
from Washington. He went on to accuse the port employers of "wrapping themselves in
the flag" in their efforts to defeat the union. Like other motions
carried by section conferences, the emergency motion on the ILWU will now go
before the plenary Congress for ratification. Note from Kees Marges, ITF Dockers' Section Secretary: The motion as
adopted by the ITF Dockers' Section Conference will be endorsed by the full
Congress. The Dockers' Section Conference in Vancouver was also addressed by
a representative of the AFL-CIO indicating the support of this organisation
for the ILWU.
Issue no 4: August 17, 2002
We back the West Coast dockers. Port unions around the
world have signaled their willingness to help over 10,000 US West Coast
dockers faced by intransigent employer demands for job cuts and attacks on
their collective bargaining agreement.