International Longshoremen's Association Local 1588

The union presented it's arguments on the Pin Man grievance at a hearing Wednesday, June 17 in front of the NYSA-ILA Labor Adjusters and the company.

The Union argued that the lack of a Pin Man is safety and jurisdictional violation of the contract.

Members wore "United for Pin Man" buttons to show support for the grievance. An overwhelming majority of members have signed petitions in support of Pin Man.

Rank and file operators told the Labor Adjusters and the company about tthe difficulties of working without a properly trained groundman:

• Trucks drivers pull away with the box still hooked up to the spreader,

• Truck drivers back up underneath the box and park improperly on the pads to receive the boxes
• Truck drivers try to outrace machines through the intersection
• Untrained drivers give confusing, erratic, and unclear signals to operators, and wander dangerously into the stacks.

“An operator 80 feet from the ground might be taking directions from a truck driver who is on his first day of work,” said Anthony Falcicchio.

Presses Labor Board charges against Global after threats of retaliation

Dear Labor Adjusters:

This letter is a grievance.

Global Terminals is violating the safety and jurisdiction provisions of the NYSA-ILA Portwide Agreement by not having a Pinman (a.k.a goundman / legman) with each machine. Untrained, non-ILA drivers wander into the stacks, stick their hands under the boxes, give unclear and inconsistent directions to operators, and sometimes leave before the spreader is unhooked. This dangerous situation is made even worse by the new RTGs which have poorer visibility and cabs that are higher off the ground.
RTG topples when trucker leaves before spreader is detached. Terminal unknown.

The lack of trained ILA members on the ground to signal properly and to safely direct the RTGs increases stress on the operator, slows production by creating additional moves, and puts outside drivers and operators at risk of injury and even death.

The work currently performed by untrained, outside truckers is rightfully Longshore work. Each RTG should be safely staffed by a Pinman with reasonable relief when loading or unloading containers onto a chassis.

Sincerely,
Anthony Falcicchio
President

After the Pin Man grievance was filed, Global threatened retaliation and the Union filed an Unfair Labor Practice charge at the National Labor Relations Board.

February 12, Orlando

Local 1588 Wage Scale Delegates are meeting with other Local and International officers to begin planning a mobilization strategy after receiving employer counterproposals calling for steep givebacks on the last day of the opening round of negotiations in Orlando.

Earlier in the week, ILA delegates listened to an employer gloom and doom presentation about the state of the economy and submitted our bargaining proposals.

The USMX counteroffer, received today, calls for a three-year extension of the current contract and serious give backs, including a wage freeze, elimination of overtime on weekends and nights, shift work, and frozen container royalty payments. The employers rejected every single proposal submitted by the ILA

No further bargaining sessions have been scheduled yet.

February 10, 2009

The Port Unity Tour returned today after seven days of visits, workshops, and meetings with Longshoremen in ports on the East Coast and Tampa. We were received enthusiastically by Local officers and rank-and-file Longshoremen who welcomed our call for unity and strength as the ILA heads into early master contract negotiations in a tough economy. Another group of ILA members drove across the Gulf Coast from Houston visiting ports along the way. Together, the two groups brought the call for solidarity to several thousand Longshoremen.

We explained our tour as an effort to strengthen ties between longshoremen, raise awareness about what's at stake in master contract negotiations and learn about the experiences and issues of dockworkers in other ports. We watched the hiring hall dispatch system in each port, gave out a flyer calling for unity behind the ILA bargaining proposals, listened as longshoremen described the differences and similarities of work on their docks, and gathered signatures on cards in support of the Employee Free Choice Act, which will remove obstacles to unionization.