Why Should Delaware Care?
An imminent strike of port workers across the East Coast would involve 85,000 longshoremen and port warehouse workers walking off their jobs – a move that would ripple through the nation’s economy just before a presidential election. But in Delaware, the hundreds of workers who rely on the Port of Wilmington for their jobs could be spared, with reports that the longshoremen’s union may exempt perishable goods from the work stoppage.
Port of Wilmington employees might continue moving cargo this week even after a longshoremen’s strike halts operations at ports across the Eastern United States.
Three local port workers told Spotlight Delaware in separate interviews that union leaders informed them late last week that perishable goods – notably fruit from Dole and Chiquita – would be exempt from the work stoppage, set to begin at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, following the expiration of their six-year master contract.
Still, one of the workers noted that the decision was the latest in what had been a week of waffling on the issue from leadership of the union, the International Longshoremen’s Association, better known as the ILA.
“First, it was yes, then it was no, then it’s yes,” said the worker who asked not to be named due to the sensitive nature of the discussions.
On Friday, Delaware Secretary of State Jeffrey Bullock also appeared to indicate that the Port of Wilmington’s hefty fruit shipments would continue to move despite the imminent strike.
During a meeting of state officials who oversee the Port of Wilmington, Bullock thanked the ILA for “allowing us to continue to work the perishable products, like bananas.”
Bullock did not respond to calls, emails or texts seeking a clarification on his comments.
The Port of Wilmington calls itself the “No. 1 U.S. gateway for imports of fresh fruit,” including bananas, pineapples, and clementines, among others. Such perishables account for a majority of port employee’s working hours, which is in contrast with other large ports on the East Coast, such as the Port of Philadelphia.
Some of the perishable shipments arrive in Delaware on pallets that must be sorted by port workers, while others come packed inside of containers.
The Port of Wilmington is the country’s 22nd largest shipping container terminal, according to a recent federal report.
Despite assurances made to port employees, the ILA’s national leadership has not confirmed publicly that they will exempt from the strike the perishable goods that move through the Port of Wilmington – or through any of the other ILA terminals from Maine to Texas.
When asked that question last week, ILA spokesman Jim McNamara sent an email that included a press release announcing that union members would continue to work with the U.S. military and cruise ships during the strike.
It did not mention perishable cargos.
“Two exceptions spelled out in this release. I have no other information,” McNamara said.
On Monday, a spokesman for the Port of Wilmington operator Enstructure declined to answer questions about whether the company has received word from the union that they would move perishable cargo during the strike.
Enstructure, a Boston-area company, also operates shipping terminals in Connecticut, Florida, Texas and Minnesota.
‘These companies are making billions’
Allowing fruit and other perishable goods to move through ports does not appear to be in line with the overall rhetoric that has come from the ILA’s national leadership in recent weeks.
In a series of blustery speeches and press releases, the president of the ILA, Harold Daggett, has promised to “shut down” and “cripple” the shipping companies and port operators that make up the United State Maritime Alliance – the bargaining entity for the various employers.
While the exact details of his demands are not publicly known, Daggett has called for higher wages for his union members, and commitments from ports that they will not automate their operations – a point of contention because West Coast operators have already begun automating some operations.
In an interview in early September, Daggett described automation as a job killer that would also deplete the tax bases in communities that rely on the economic activity from seaports.
“These (shipping) companies are making billions of dollars,” he said. “Now they want to get rid of us? That’s not fair, not fair at all.”
Since his September interview, Daggett and the United States Maritime Alliance have engaged in a dueling public relations battle that featured a series of increasingly bitter press releases.
Shipping companies have claimed that Daggett has refused to sit down for negotiations in recent weeks. In response, the ILA president asserted that he has been in regular telephone communication with the Maritime Alliance, but that it has only offered “a low-ball wage package.”
On Thursday, the Maritime Alliance announced that it filed an unfair labor practices complaint with the National Labor Relations Board, asking the federal agency to force the ILA to the bargaining table.
The ILA in response called the action “another publicity stunt by the employer group.”
The Maritime Alliance’s complaint was not listed on the NLRB’s online case search, and the agency did not reply to requests seeking information about the status of the legal request.
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