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.
Just after midnight Tuesday, dozens of Delaware longshoremen gathered outside of the main gate at the Port of Wilmington to mark the beginning of an anxiously awaited strike that is halting seaport operations across the Eastern United States.
With little light overhead, some held signs that read, “No Work Without a Fair Contract,” and “Fight Automation. Save Jobs.” Others shared predictions about the number of days – or weeks – the strike may last.
Still others swayed to music coming from a nearby Bluetooth speaker, while fuel trucks leaving the port honked in support.
In all, it was an upbeat launch to the strike despite the uncertain future facing the Delaware port workers, and the country’s broader economy just a month before a presidential election.
Leading up to the work stoppage, longshoremen did not know, for certain, whether the Port of Wilmington’s dominant cargo of perishable fruit would be exempted from the work stoppage.
If it were, then the striking Delaware longshoremen would still be able to work significant hours offloading ships, despite tens of thousands of their compatriots across the East and Gulf coasts staying idle following the Sept. 30 expiration of the union’s 6-year master contract.
Last week, three local port workers told Spotlight Delaware in separate interviews that union leaders informed them that perishable goods – notably fruit from Dole and Chiquita – would be exempt from the strike
But one of those workers also noted that the union, the International Longshoremen’s Association, had previously waffled on the question for days.
“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.
At the strike’s launch early Tuesday morning, two workers said the question of a possible exemption for perishables still had not been answered.
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 fruit 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.
On Friday, Delaware Secretary of State Jeffrey Bullock also appeared to believe 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 leadership of the International Longshoremen’s Association – also known as the ILA – has not said publicly whether 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.
Daggett has called for higher wages for his union members, and commitments from ports that they will not automate their operations – a particular point of contention following the Port of Los Angeles’s aggressive moves in recent years to automate its terminals.
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.
Daggett said he has been in regular communication with the Maritime Alliance, but only received “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 called the action “another publicity stunt by the employer group.”
A spokesperson for the NLRB confirmed that the complaint has been filed with the agency.
On Monday, hours before the strike began, the Maritime Alliance said in a statement that negotiations had progressed with the union, stating that “both sides have moved off their previous positions.”
“Our offer would increase wages by nearly 50 percent, triple employer contributions to employee retirement plans, strengthen our health care options, and retain the current language around automation and semi-automation,” the Maritime Alliance statement said.
