Posted on 01/29/2016 11:06:50 AM PST by Citizen Zed
NEWARK—More than 4,000 longshoremen unexpectedly walked off the job this morning, shutting down the port terminals both in New Jersey and New York, causing truck traffic to immediately start backing up throughout Port Newark and Port Elizabeth.
Port officials were taken by surprise by the labor action, and were unsure what precipitated it.
"We do know it's an illegal walk-off," said Phoebe Sorial, general counsel for the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor. "We did not hear about it beforehand and we don't know why it's happening."
The New York Shipping Association, which represents the terminal operators, ocean carriers, and stevedores, was also in the dark.
"I can tell you we don't know why they walked off," said spokeswoman Beverly Fedorko. "It came as a surprise to everyone. We're trying to ascertain just what is going on."
She said the association is not currently negotiating with the ILA, which has been working under an existing collective bargaining agreement.
Even the International Longshoremen's Association was uncertain about that sparked the wildcat strike. ILA spokesman Jim McNamara said there is some anger by the rank-and-file over what they see as interference by the waterfront commission in their collective bargaining agreement, but added that he was also still looking into the matter.
"They see the commission as a threat to to their livelihood, making life miserable for longshoremen," McNamara said. "They have gone way beyond their role of licensing to break down the gains of the ILA."
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said it moved to stop incoming truck traffic to enter the port, but police say local access roads this morning throughout the port area were already at a standstill.
(Excerpt) Read more at nj.com ...
Fire their lazy asses. Doesn’t take a genius to unload boxes off big boats.
But we are told that Lib areas are the best in protecting workers rights!
Tony “The Rat” Ianini told them to.
"What do they want me to do? Go down there and heft crates?"
"I'm on the way!"
That’s impressive!
Ever crossed a picket line? It’s not as easy as one might think. can get very ugly....I’m no big fan of unions, just sayin’.
It's not a question of intelligence, it's skill and experience. Most people have never spent time in a container yard, but the operation of cranes, top picks, operating a forklift in a tight dynamic area, strapping and unloading coils and the coordinating of logistics is very difficult to do with out years of experience.
The shipping company's personnel does it...not the longshoremen.
Does anyone use “break bulk” shipping any more or is it all container?
Kudos to that one!!
If they expect the walk out to effect changes, it would help if they would at least hint at the issue/conflict to induce a beneficial resolution.
Upset that Trump wasn’t at the debate last night.
But he would explain this loading to me. At one point, he taught this along with fire drills aboard ship. Pretty smart kid....12 years younger than myself.
Of course oil, chemicals, salt, sugar but I'm sure you know that. You see it most in produce from South/Central America. I'd say it's 60/40 break bulk, but the trend definitely is toward containers.
Damn you sir & your quick posting skills!
To quote Senator Claghorn "That's a joke, son!".
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
