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Labor Secretary turns up heat on W.C. talks as employers take "last and final" deal straight to the docks and rumors fly that deal hinges on one local official.
According to USA Today, Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez gave leaders of the ILWU and PMA a Friday deadline, saying if they don't reach an contract agreement by then for longshore workers at 29 West Coast ports, they will have to move their negotiations to Washington D.C.
Perez, who joined the labor talks on Tuesday, said if the two sides did not succeed, he would haul their leaders to the nation's capital next week, according to Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, who learned about the deadline in an evening call Perez had with mayors of major West Coast port cities.
Changing the venue to "the shadow of the White House will place immense pressure on these parties to resolve an issue that is being underscored as being of national importance," Schaaf said. Perez's office did not have immediate comment Thursday night.
The Associated Press said Thursday that West Coast port employers went straight to dockworkers with their "last, best and final offer," bypassing the union in an action sure to anger ILWU officials, who were in closed session at the time, with both sides supposedly adhering to a media blackout.
The employers reportedly distributed letters to rank and file workers at ports from Los Angeles to Washington state, outlining in detail the offer that management made to the union Feb. 12. The AP story noted the letter's "last, best and final offer" syntax could be laying the groundwork for "the declaration of an impasse and therefore a full lockout of workers by employers."
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Times reported on word that the main sticking point in West Coast port labor negotiations constellates the fate of a single, local arbitrator who rules on conflicts involving Los Angeles and Long Beach dockworkers.
Talks between the Pacific Maritime Association and
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Photo credit: Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times
the International Longshore and Warehouse Union are at a stalemate, ostensibly due to a union request to change the rules for removing local arbitrators who decide on workplace issues. Inside sources say the real sticking point lies in union leaders' wish to fire local South California arbitrator David Miller, who could not be reached for comment.
"It's crazy, and you can quote me," Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said Thursday, after spending Wednesday in San Francisco trying to help move the talks forward.
"It is highly disappointing that with so much at stake, you have not been able to come up with a path forward on this one remaining issue," wrote California Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein in a joint letter to the PMA and ILWU.
Right now, both sides have to agree to appoint and fire arbitrators. However, according to the employers, the union wants either side to be able to remove local arbitrators at the end of a labor contract.
Rep. Janice Hahn (D-Los Angeles), a union supporter, said ILWU leaders have told her that Miller is "too close" to employers.
Garcetti said Thursday that "the whole contract could be wrapped up in a matter of hours if this last issue is overcome."
For more of the USA Today story: usatoday.com
For more of the Los Angeles Times story: latimes.com
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