By Terelle Jerricks, Managing Editor
On Sept. 8, about 300 casual longshore workers demonstrated in front of the Casual Dispatch Hall in Wilmington. Similar amount of workers protested for more opportunities to become registered full union members.
Random Lengths News received a tip from one casual who asked not reveal his name since the organizers placed an embargo on communications with media until they were ready.
He said about 200 jobs were left unfilled. Random Lengths requested comment from the Pacific Maritime Association’s Wade Gate, but he never confirmed if the action affected port operations.
ILWU Local 63 President Paul Trani, representing the Marine Clerks, was quoted in the Press Telegram speaking to the heart of the casual’s complaint.
“They are frustrated,” Trani said. “They have been sacrificing their family. Many have two jobs.”
Officials from three ILWU locals — Locals 63, 13 and 94 — issued a joint statement that day saying that they did not condone the action.
“As always, Locals 13, 63 and 94 are committed to fill all labor needed for the movement of cargo in the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach,” the brief statement said.
More than 5,000 casuals pick up intermittent work along the docks at a dispatch center in Wilmington. The workers have been preselected in a random lottery, and once they build up enough seniority through hours worked, they can qualify to pick up full-time work. But those roles are rarely opened, and many part-timers have been waiting for more than a decade to land a job as a registered ILWU (ID) member.
The casual that called in the tip to Random Lengths said he has put in more than 5,000 hours and has been working the docks for 13 years yet still hasn’t received a job with security and benefits.
Earlier this year, the ILWU and the Pacific Maritime Association, representing shippers and terminals at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, hosted a random lottery for more part-timers, effectively expanding the list and making the wait times longer for those at the very bottom.
ILWU Local 13 asked the PMA to hire 600 casuals on a full-time basis, and ILWU Local 63 asked that 100 positions be filled in its union. However, the PMA has declined to do so even with record levels of cargo crossing the docks at both of the local harbors.
“We don’t have enough clerks to fill these jobs. We want more clerks,” Trani said. “Every day there’s at least a couple hundred jobs that go unfilled by [full-time] marine clerks.”
The PMA declined to comment to the media as of press time, but it is understood that the ports have been urging the union and the shipping association to address this issue.