THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 11, 1996 TAG: 9610110523
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
DATELINE: BALTIMORE LENGTH: 44 lines
Worried about losing even more cargo to competing ports like Hampton Roads, dockworkers in Baltimore avoided a work stoppage by narrowly approving a five-year local contract.
The contract, approved 456-421 Wednesday, includes some of the most severe cuts port employees have seen.
The narrow approval margin of the contract offered by port employers marked a dramatic turnaround from last week, when workers overwhelmingly rejected the deal 736-129.
The contract reduces wages for handling break-bulk cargo such as steel and wood pulp, reduces the sizes of the various crews that load and unload ships and does away with a popular benefit known as guaranteed annual income.
Members of the International Longshoremen's Association remained on the job after the contract was defeated last week, realizing that a strike could cause permanent damage by diverting cargo to other ports.
The ILA in Hampton Roads last week approved a slightly different contract by a wide margin. Employers in Baltimore agreed to a short extension of the old contract, but wanted the deal put back to workers this week, raising the possibility that the old agreement would not be in force following the vote.
``I think enough men knew that this port would never recover from a work stoppage,'' said Bill Schonowski, president of Local 333, one of the ILA locals in Baltimore.
The port of Baltimore has been steadily losing shipping lines and cargo for years. Its losses have picked up this year as the big Danish line Maersk pulled out much of its service. Baltimore general cargo volume is down 11 percent through the first half of 1996.
The contract approved Wednesday included a $4,000 cash payment in exchange for giving up the union's Guaranteed Annual Income program, a once-sacred provision in every ILA contract.
Put in place 30 years ago to protect workers from automation, the program guaranteed employees an annual income of $30,000 whether they worked or not. ILLUSTRATION: [Side Bar]
What the Baltimore port employees new contract does:
[For complete copy, see microfilm]
KEYWORDS: BALTIMORE PORT CONTRACT by CNB