A stevedoring company that plans to use workers from the Operating Engineers union to load military ammunition at Charleston said it is not competing for work currently done by International Longshoremen’s Association labor.
ILA President Harold Daggett and Ken Riley, president of Local 1422 in Charleston, have criticized other unions, including the Seafarers International Union and International Union of Operating Engineers, for performing traditional longshore work.
Chris May, vice president of Portus Stevedoring in Jacksonville, Fla., said his company has contracted with the Marines to handle their cargo at Jacksonville since 2005. He said the contract allows the company to follow the ship to Charleston.
