Bulletin # 10-15
February 10, 2015
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
STATUS OF NEGOTIATIONS AND PMA DESPERATION TACTICS FROM
BOBBY OLVERA, JR., LOCAL 13 PRESIDENT
I would like to report to you that the ILWU contract negotiating team has been working tirelessly to reach a deal on a new contract while PMA has reached a new low in their negotiating tactics and on-going propaganda attacks upon longshore workers and the negotiating team in the news media. ILWU International President Robert McEllrath has been steadfast in his resolve for a deal that reflects the stand taken by our local delegates at the beginning of the negotiations.
Caucus Delegates from every area met in December and unanimously supported the negotiating team and our International President. There is NO divide. The Local Delegates are home awaiting the call from the Coast Negotiating Team. The fact is that rather than dealing with our negotiators directly, PMA has been attempting to bait the ILWU membership and the broader public by mischaracterizing their own proposals as well as the union’s demands in the news media. PMA hopes that their deliberate efforts to create confusion by trickling misleading bits about the negotiations will sow discord in our ranks and public sympathy for PMA’s foreign-based members.
One thing stands true and keeps us united – if PMA wins, they will take the sacrifices of ILWU members, as well as the “congestion fees” they are trying to justify on retailers and US consumers as profits abroad. We can’t let them do this and we must stand together to prevent it.
The second thing that keeps us united is that we are answering PMA in-kind. PMA is reeling from revelations ILWU members made over the weekend that despite PMA’s arguments otherwise, there is room on the docks to unload cargo. Brothers Rollo Hartstrom from Local 13 and Bill Kirk of Local 94 took to the sky and photographed shipyards with large empty spaces that could be used to manage new cargo. Please look-out for coverage we have generated in the Long Beach Press Telegram today, as well as NBC National News tonight, and the New York Times tomorrow.
Despite all the PMA antics, our negotiating team led by Brother McEllrath are keeping cool heads. We reaffirm our commitment to moving cargo and the millions of jobs that cargo provides nationally. Last week’s membership meeting over 2500 members again voiced unanimous and unequivocal support for our International President and Coast Negotiating Team.
We will continue to demand work, to stand for the American economy and other American workers who need the supplies that come through our hands. Brothers and Sisters, stand strong, stay united and remain in solidarity. This is how we will prevail.
Fraternally,
Bobby Olvera, Jr.
President