Wednesday, March 30, 2016

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Labor halts operations at Port of Oakland terminal after 22 fired





A labor dispute linked to a group of dismissed dock workers disrupted cargo handling at SSA Marine Terminals at the Port of Oakland on Monday, completely halting operations at one of the terminals at the East Bay cargo hub, port officials said.

"Daytime operations were suspended" at SSA Marine's Oakland International Container Terminal, said Michael Zampa, a spokesman for the Port of Oakland. "It's a labor-management dispute."

The terminal involved is the largest at the Port of Oakland, which has five terminals.

The cause or nature of the work disagreement wasn't immediately disclosed.

"We have heard work has temporarily stopped," Zampa said. "Operations are expected to resume on the evening shift."

The disruption caused trucks drivers to become stuck in long lines to pick-up and drop-off cargo.

Officials with International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 10, the main representative of rank-and-file workers at the Oakland port, said the work stoppage was connected with the firing of 22 dock employees at the port.

According to SF Gate, sources with knowledge of the dispute said 22 workers were fired when they did not agree to begin work at 6:45 a.m. instead of the usual 7 a.m. start time at the Oakland International Container Terminal, one of the five terminals at the port. Another 44 workers slowed or stopped working in support of their colleagues, the sources said.

"The company refused to honor the start time in our contract," said Craig Merrilees, a spokesman for the International Longshore and Warehouse Union. "The ILWU called in an arbitrator, who ruled that the company acted improperly by dismissing 22 workers. The workers were made whole" under the ruling, he added.

The 22 workers were dismissed for the day, but the arbitrator determined that they could return to the job Tuesday and be paid for Monday's hours.

"The company wanted to change the workday and the start times, in violation of the contract," Merrilees said. SSA sought to start the workers' shifts 15 minutes earlier.

SSA Marine Terminals and Oakland International Container Terminal didn't return phone inquiries about the situation on Monday.

The arbitrator also determined that 44 dock workers who stopped working to show support for the dismissed workers acted improperly.

For more of the Mercury News story: www.mercurynews.com


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