ILA Details Preparations for Strike Dec. 30; Others Hoping to Head it Off

The International Longshoremen's Association is advising local unions to prepare for a strike beginning at 12:01 a.m. Dec. 30, in a memo from International President Harold Daggett. It said the locals should establish strike committees that will schedule picket duty, prepare signs that "use only language approved" by the ILA, and that "there shall be no violence on any ILA picket line."

The memo (here) says orders to handle containerized cargo "shall not be honored," but orders to handle perishable commodities should be, as should military cargo and mail. Passenger ships will continue to be handled, as will non-containerized cargo and autos. "Those failing to abide by strike rules or International directives shall be subject to discipline under the ILA Constitution," the memo said.

Meanwhile, though the American Association of Port Authorities' U.S. member ports are not directly involved in the contract negotiations, "AAPA is hopeful that contract negotiations will resume before the strike deadline of Dec. 29," said spokesman Aaron Ellis. "The ports in which ILA has a presence on the East, Gulf and Great Lakes coasts, and their marine terminal partners, will assist their customers however they can to ensure there is as little impact as possible in the event of a strike."

The National Industrial Transportation League is working to make sure that "official Washington" is "fully aware of what's at stake here," President Bruce Carlton told us. "The parties could pull back and agree to keep talking, but the late news releases from both the ILA and their employers' group do not leave much room for that outcome."

Carlton said "few if any believe the President would invoke Taft Hartley before an actual walkout or lockout. However, we and many others have asked the White House to be prepared to take that action if necessary as soon as possible in order to reopen the ports." He said a strike 10 years ago on the West coast was estimated to cost the nation's economy $1 billion per day, "and the backlog of freight took six months to clear."