U.S. West Coast longshoremen approve labor pact

SAN FRANCISCO (Aug. 30, 1999) — West Coast longshoremen overwhelmingly approved a new contract that includes an 8% pay hike and provisions designed to avoid labor strife as ports try to become more efficient.

The three-year contract was approved by 82.5% of the nearly 10,000 dockworkers eligible to vote on the three-year agreement with the Pacific Management Association, which represents shipping companies and terminal operators in all major ports from Seattle to Long Beach, Calif.

Voting began Aug. 4. The PMA is expected to ratify the contract at its Sept. 2 meeting.

The PMA received assurances that the union would set up a committee to balance job security issues and new technology designed to make ports more efficient.

Western ports handle more than half the containerized cargo moving in and out of the United States every year. Pay for union members in 1998 averaged $99,000 for dock workers, $117,617 for clerks and $156,251 for foremen.