Longshoremen to Return to Work at New York/New Jersey Ports
NEW YORK & NEW JERSEY - Longshoremen are now officially back at work in New York and New Jersey after a massive worker walkout temporarily halted all work at one of the busiest ports on the East Coast.
John Nardi, President of the New York Shipping Association (NYSA), which negotiates the union’s contract with port management, said work resumed at the port’s terminals starting with the 7 p.m. shift on Friday, just 9 hours after the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) members either halted work or left the terminal facilities beginning 10 a.m. at all six of the port’s marine terminals, effectively closing the East Coast’s busiest seaport.
“Full operations at the Port of New York and New Jersey are being restored. GCT Bayonne will be open Sunday, 1/31 from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m.,” the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey announced on its website January 30th. “All terminals will open Monday for their regularly scheduled times.”
Director of Public Relations for the ILA, James McNamara, explained the union’s reasoning for the walkout during a Friday morning interview with 1010 WINS radio news.
“The ILA and the New York Shipping Association—our employers, it’s not just the workers, but also the owners of the companies that generate the jobs and generates money for the economy—both sides have been fighting the Waterfront Commission, especially in the last five years, over the right to bring new workers on, the right to operate their ports the way they think they should be operated,” McNamara said during the interview. “They’ve had enough, they told me they’re taking this action to demonstrate their displeasure.”
According to The Wall Street Journal, Nardi had declared the ILA’s walkout illegal, as it violated clauses in the union’s contract with port management designed to prevent “unplanned work stoppages.” In reaction, the NYSA called an emergency meeting of its contract board at 3 p.m. Friday afternoon, eventually meeting with an arbitration panel which ruled in the NYSA’s favor. The association was preparing to seek a court injunction to force the workers to resume their positions, but negotiations resumed and a deal was struck around 6 p.m. Friday.
For more on this situation as it develops, AndNowUKnow will continue to update you.
