Tri-Party Bulletin #01-14
October 27, 2014
VICTORY AT TRAPAC
Brothers and Sisters,
For over a month ILWU Locals 13, 63 and 94 have had the TraPac automated yard shut down over health and safety concerns. From the beginning, Locals 13, 63 & 94 demanded that TraPac hand over the system to the ILWU workforce and implement safety protocols and procedures for ALL aspects of the operation. For weeks, TraPac and PMA refused to even acknowledge that the automated yard was unsafe, despite at least eleven (11) collisions during this time period. Rather than give the Union full disclosure and work with the Union to make the automation safe, the employers attempted to bully the Union and threatened us with lawsuits and lockouts.
On Friday October 10th, the Locals, working with the City of LA Mayor’s Office and the LA Harbor Department, forced TraPac and PMA to act in good faith. TraPac and PMA then agreed with the Union that indeed the operation was unsafe and the parties immediately entered into an agreement for a complete system analysis by an independent third party Information Technology (“IT”) firm. The Mayor’s Office and the Harbor Department retained this third party to perform a detailed audit of the automated system’s configuration, access, and security features, along with establishing comprehensive safety and jurisdictional procedures and protocols.
On Monday October 20th the third party IT audit firm issued an independent, comprehensive 62-page forensic analysis report that was delivered to the parties which confirmed that the Union was correct in its claim of an unsafe and mismanaged automated yard. The Union outlined 11 major issues and over 24 related issues that needed to be resolved before Longshore, Clerks, and Foremen could return to work in the automated yard.
On Friday October 24th ALL union demands were agreed to by TraPac and PMA. The Union received a complete “operating procedure” for automated operations that include additional safety protocols for ILWU Mechanics, Longshoremen, Marine Clerks and Foreman. Every item the Union was fighting for was attained; this is a great achievement for the ILWU.
The ILWU will return to work in and around the automated yard on Wednesday October 29th on the MOL Matrix. During the vessel and yard operations, ILWU Locals 13 and 63 will have officers/representatives at TraPac to observe and verify that the changes agreed to and signed by all parties are being implemented. Rest assured that the Officers of Locals 13, 63, and 94 will continue to monitor the situation and keep the Membership updated as things progress.
We can all be proud of this result. These efforts show that when Longshore, Clerks, and Foremen work together in solidarity, we can achieve the safest and best results for the Membership.
“An Injury to one is an Injury to All.”
Fraternally,
Bobby Olvera Jr. Joe Gasperov Daniel G. Miranda
President President President
Local 13 Local 63 Local 94
opeiu#537/ih