A truck driver in Houston, Texas, and member of ILA Local 28, Deborah McAlister, 55, died on the job earlier this week while working for Maersk-Sealand. She was pinned between her own truck and the truck in front of her, which backed up without realizing she was adjusting her numbers.
Members of the LWC health and […]

VIEWPOINT: Protect Our Jobs and the Environment
by Dione Barlow, ILA Local 1526, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
(This will appear in the Spring 2010 Issue of Pier Pressure)
 CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD PDF OF THIS ARTICLE
From the shores of Portland, Oregon to the beaches of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and beyond, the efforts to both preserve our environment and […]

Longshore Workers’ Coalition News Update
February 5, 2010
DOWNLOAD NEWS UPDATE HERE & DISTRIBUTE!
ILA AGREES TO AUTOMATED TERMINAL IN JACKSONVILLE
According to media reports, officials of Hanjin Shipping and the ILA tentatively agreed on a contract establishing staffing levels for a highly automated container terminal Hanjin plans to open in Jacksonville, Florida, in 2013.
The Jacksonville Business Journal […]

Working on and around the docks is a dangerous job. So dangerous that in the last few days of 2009 two ILA members died while on the job.
David Wieland, 43, an ILA gang foreman in Local 970, was killed in Norfolk, Virginia, on December 22 when a straddle carrier dislodged a light pole, causing it […]

See http://lwcjustice.com/?page_id=12 for an announcement about the “Blue Vision Summit” conference in Washington D.C, March 7-10, 2009. ILWU’s Vice President Joe Radisich will be a panelist!

When Delmont Blakeney was knocked into the frigid water while working a ship in the Port of Oakland on Saturday August 23rd, there was no ladder available on the pier to help him out. When co-workers finally found one, 40 minutes later, it was too late. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Craig Merrilees, […]

During negotiations in 2004, ILA leadership agreed to drastically reduce retiree care, break up our benefits into 4 tiers by hours, increase co-pays and reduce coverage. They surrendered to management’s claim that without cuts the union’s heath care plan, MILA, would have $731 million deficit.

After months of protests, grievances, and lobbying efforts by local officials and rank and file members, Baltimore longshoremen achieved their long-sought goal of stopping the unsafe practice of driving through the mobile VACIS machines.
Back in July of 2006, after articles in Pier Pressure and rank and file anger, President Bowers issued a directive that all […]

Employers continue their efforts to weaken the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act. On March 12th Republican Senator Johnny Isakson of Georgia introduced senate bill 846 to amend the Act. Included in the proposed changes was eliminating an employees right to go to a doctor of your choice and changing the hearing loss standard. The […]

Community health studies coming out of California and other regions with intermodal facilities argue that exposure to diesel dust has lead to increased rates of cancer, asthma, bronchitis and cardiovascular illnesses, as reported in the Journal of Commerce.
Diesel dust is made of small particles that can evade our lungs protective devises and can carry toxins […]