West Coast longshore union braces for bankruptcy, unnerving labor nationally

[corbe]

West Coast longshore union braces for bankruptcy, unnerving labor nationally

By Richard Read, Los Angeles Times 13 hrs ago

SAN FRANCISCO — The union that handles every shipping container that crosses West Coast docks is bracing for bankruptcy. It’s a rare prospect for a bargaining group, and it’s rattling organized labor nationally.
 
The International Longshore and Warehouse Union traces its roots to a 1934 strike that claimed the lives of two men commemorated by silhouettes marked on a sidewalk in front of Local 10, the organization’s San Francisco chapter. The ILWU’s motto — “An injury to one is an injury to all” — attests to the wariness and solidarity of its 15,000 waterfront members, handsomely compensated blue-collar workers already threatened by port automation.

Few of those workers could have imagined that an obscure feud over two dockside jobs in Portland, Ore., would jeopardize the whole union, whose members line up daily at hiring halls to operate cranes, trucks and machinery in ports from San Diego to Bellingham, Wash. But a $94-million federal jury award Nov. 4 to ICTSI Oregon Inc., a cargo terminal operator, has forced union leaders to warn that a filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection may be ahead.

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https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/west-coast-longshore-union-braces-for-bankruptcy-unnerving-labor-nationally/ar-BBZppJI?ocid=spartanntp

[mountaineer]

That's a shame. 

[IsailedawayfromFR]

Insolvency might be a good thing, except for a jury award going to lots of lawyers.

The longshoremen are way overpaid compared to other transit workers.

https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-dockworker-pay-20150301-story.html

[SZonian]

"For leverage, the union has developed “hard-timing” and “working to rule..."

I've seen this with IAM and other unions I've encountered, but in this instance, most of these are way overpaid for what they do.

All in all, this is good, especially if they have to "open their books" during bankruptcy.