ILA President, Richard Hughes, announced early deep-sea negotiations in the Journal of Commerce. In February, the Longshore Workers’ Coalition sent Hughes a letter requesting the ILA outline its plan to follow through on resolutions passed at the 2007 ILA Convention–resolutions to end the wage and royalty tiers, eliminate the container royalty cap, rewrite and renegotiate safety regulations and establish an organizing program. (See here for a copy of the letter.)

To date, Hughes has not responded. The Longshore Workers’ Coalition believes that early negotiations without consulting the membership will not result in the strongest possible contract that our union deserves.

HUGHES ANNOUNCES EARLY NEGOTIATIONS
As reported in the Journal of Commerce Online, Hughes says he is optimistic about contract negotiations for the master container contract due to expire October 1, 2010.

“The president of the International Longshoremen’s Association said the union wants to keep commerce flowing through Atlantic and Gulf Ports, and that he is optimistic that the ILA and waterfront employers can agree on a new or extended contract before the current one expires in two years,” reported Joseph Bonney, of the JOC, on October 3, 2008.

CONSULTING THE MEMBERSHIP
Hughes emphasized that the union will not negotiate with the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX), the coalition representing the waterfront employers, without consulting the membership first.

“As I said in recent speeches in South Carolina and Virginia earlier this year, it serves no purpose to spell out any list of demands that the ILA wants to see in its next contract,” Hughes said in the same JOC article. “Those will come from our membership and be delivered to negotiations by the wage-scale delegates.”

Yet, Hughes has called for an ILA executive officers meeting this week with the USMX without having discussed our contract negotiations plan with local unions and members.

* Click here to see a video interview of Richard Hughes by the Journal of Commerce. *