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.

The Company claimed they were unaware of the daily near misses and other incidents. They argued that the NYSA-ILA Joint Maritime Safety Code is out of date and doesn't apply and there is no safety issue or violation of the contract. They said that not having a Pin Man is better for 1588 members because it is a dangerous job. They said that the Local should worry about it's own members. They said that not having a pin man is past practice.

No decision was reached at the hearing. The Labor Adjusters are likely to deadlock on the grievance. It will then go to the Contract Board and if it deadlocks there, to arbitration.

1588 members attending the hearing included: President Anthony Falcicchio, Deep Sea Vice President Virgil Maldonado, Secretary-Treasurer Tony Perlstein, Shop Steward Ray Colli, Assistant Shop Steward Paul Trovato, Operators: Rob Dickey, Manny Ferreras, Herman Garcia, Dave Konrady, Lou Marella, Giles Mirkovic, Wesley Picnic, and Vito Recchia.

The company was represented by John Atkins and Dave Brady. James Stolpinski, President of Local 920, was the ILA Labor Adjusterl; Anthony Petrizzo was the NYSA Labor Adjuster.

The Local will continue to keep you informed on the progress of the grievance.