International Longshoremen's Association Local 1588

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.