THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, April 1, 1995 TAG: 9504010269
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CHRISTOPHER DINSMORE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines
An apprenticeship program announced Friday by port and longshoreman's union officials should help make the port competitive again for certain cargoes.
Under the program, newly hired longshoremen will earn $15 an hour for the 3-year duration of the program while undergoing training and handling nearly all the break-bulk cargo shipped through the port of Hampton Roads.
The International Longshoreman's Association has nearly 4,000 applications for 175 vacancies in the union ranks, said Edward L. Brown, ILA district vice president.
About 140 of those vacancies will be filled as soon as possible.
The program is the culmination of nearly a year of talks between the ILA's Hampton Roads District Council and the Hampton Roads Shipping Association, which represents the port's terminals, shipping lines and the companies that unload ships. The ILA represents about 1,800 dockworkers in the port.
``This program is designed to make the port of Hampton Roads more competitive,'' said John J. Johnson, shipping association president and the port's chief negotiator.
The talks began after Hampton Roads started losing certain break-bulk cargoes to other ports with cheaper labor. Break-bulk cargoes - such as cocoa beans, rubber, steel and plywood - are not shipped in containers.
More than 90 percent of the general cargo shipped through the port comes in containers, while the rest is break-bulk.
Imports of key break-bulk commodities in the port such as rubber and cocoa beans have fallen since 1993. Cocoa-bean shipments, for example, slipped more than 25 percent in both 1993 and 1994.
Break-bulk cargo tonnage dropped 19.7 percent in the first two months of 1995 to 152,760 tons, according to the Virginia Port Authority.
The drop-off eventually could harm the entire port. Labor-intensive break-bulk cargo generates revenue that keeps the port's container costs down.
ILA members rejected a package of wage concessions in August and talks turned to establishing the apprenticeship program.
Details of the program were worked out several weeks ago. Members of the ILA locals that will be affected by the program voted to approve it in meetings over the past two weeks, Brown said.
The apprenticeship program was put into effect retroactive to Feb. 1 and will last three years. Applicants for the apprentice program must pass a physical, a drug test, a job simulation test and other training.
Apprentice ILA laborers will load and unload the break-bulk vessels calling in the port. Their lower wages will enable the port to offer more competitive rates.
In addition to retaining key break-bulk commodities - such as cocoa beans - that are shipped through Hampton Roads, port and union officials expect the program to help win new business such as coffee and paper.
``There's a lot of different commodities that are moving through other ports that we hope to attract to Hampton Roads,'' Brown said.
Besides lower wage rates than veteran ILA members, apprentice longshoremen won't receive paid vacation and holidays. They will receive the same pension and health care benefits as veteran longshoremen.
Brown called the program the first of its kind on the East Coast.
Veteran longshoremen, who earn up to $21 an hour, won't be affected by the plan except that they no longer will work break-bulk vessels. Veteran longshoremen's wages started at $16.50 an hour for break-bulk cargo. ILLUSTRATION: COMMODITIES SHIPMENTS SINK
Graphic
The port of Hampton Roads has lost shipments of some of its biggest
break-bulk commodities - including cocoa beans and rubber - to
competing ports with cheaper labor. A new apprenticeship program is
expected to reverse the trend.
JOHN CORBITT/Staff
SOURCE: Virginia Internationsl Terminals Inc.
[For a copy of the graphic, see microfilm for this date.]
by CNB