The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Coast Longshore Division had condemned the Costa Rican government for disrupting democratic processes relating to leadership of Sintrajap.

The ILWU’s charges were made [...]]]>

The Costa Rican government vowed to replace the union longshore workforce in Limón with one that "has absolutely no relationship with collective bargaining agreements or unions."

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Coast Longshore Division had condemned the Costa Rican government for disrupting democratic processes relating to leadership of Sintrajap.

The ILWU’s charges were made in regard to a process earlier this year whereby Sintrajap’s leadership was replaced by a vote of the union’s assembly. The union’s new leadership accepted a payment of $137 million for union members in return for accepting transition of the port to private management.

The Sala IV determined last week that the vote violated the union’s regular procedures and due process, and effectively restored the former leaders of Sintrajap, who are staunch opponents of privatization. The court nullified any action taken in their six-month absence.

ILWU International President Robert McEllrath, who has been campaigning on behalf of the Limón dockworkers’ union since January, said, “It’s an important step forward in the never-ending battle to protect workers from forces that would like to return to the days before union rights, when poverty and unsafe working conditions in the workplace were considered an acceptable cost of doing business.”

President Laura Chinchilla, who shares Arias’ free-trade philosophy, said she saw the decision as a setback, but pledged to continue to move forward toward the goal of privatizing the port.

“My government will not go backward in its quest of modernizing the ports of Limón,” Chinchilla said at a press conference on Thursday. “There are other ways and alternatives to continue with this modernization.”

Political leaders from opposition parties urged greater openness to dialogue on the part of the Executive Branch. In a joint press release, they said the former administration under Arias acted “arrogantly” and advised the current administration not to commit the same error.

From the Tico Times

Paddy Crumlin, ITF president, chair of the ITF dockers section and MUA national secretary wrote to SINTRAJAP [...]]]> In late August, several months after being ousted in a government coup, the legitimately elected SINTRAJAP longshore union leaders in Costa Rica were reinstated by Costa Rica’s high court. The Maritime Union of Australia published the news:

Paddy Crumlin, ITF president, chair of the ITF dockers section and MUA national secretary wrote to SINTRAJAP General Secretary Ronaldo Blear Blear earlier this year. He expressed outrage on behalf of the dockworkers of the world at the Patrick style attack on the union and its members, pledging international support.

On hearing of the breakthrough MUA Assistant National Secretary Warren Smith congratulated the ILWU on this important first step in the struggle to maintain the democratic rights of Costa Rican dockworkers.

“Forward to victory together,” he wrote. “All the best in struggle.”

From the Maritime Union of Australia

Terri Mast, IBU National Secretary-Treasurer, was photographed among union archives. Click on the image to read the full Seattle Times article.

The University of Washington is making a special place for the documents of this state’s labor history in its University Libraries Special Collections. The labor archive is a compendium of letters, meeting [...]]]>

Terri Mast, IBU National Secretary-Treasurer, was photographed among union archives. Click on the image to read the full Seattle Times article.

The University of Washington is making a special place for the documents of this state’s labor history in its University Libraries Special Collections. The labor archive is a compendium of letters, meeting minutes, rally posters, newspaper stories and photographs — a sort of day-by-day record of the business of running a union.

The UW has received money to grow and organize its already robust collection from local labor leaders themselves. Unions have raised $250,000 — including a $150,000 matching grant from the International Longshore and Warehouse Union’s longshore division — to help pay for an archivist. The university also is working with local unions to gather more material.

Using the collection: The UW Libraries’ Special Collections is open to the public. To find out how to view organizational records and personal papers relating to labor history, go to this link or call 206-543-1929.

From the Seattle Times

The ouster of democratically elected leaders of the SINTRAJAP union prompted the International Longshore and Warehouse Union’s (ILWU’s) Coast Longshore Division to charge Costa Rica with [...]]]>

The ILWU Coast Longshore Division published ads in Costa Rican newspapers supporting the democratically elected union leaders.

The ouster of democratically elected leaders of the SINTRAJAP union prompted the International Longshore and Warehouse Union’s (ILWU’s) Coast Longshore Division to charge Costa Rica with “serious and repeated failures by the government of Costa Rica to effectively enforce its own labor laws” in an 18-page complaint with the Department of Labor’s Office of Trade and Labor Affairs (OTLA).

“The return of the legitimate union leadership is a victory for hard-working people everywhere, who count on having the democratic right to join a union and improve their standard of living, ensure their safety and strengthen their communities,” says ILWU International President Robert McEllrath.

Despite the court’s order, it remains unclear whether or not the government intends to respect the ruling.

“The road ahead will likely be long, but we are prepared to support the legitimate SINTRAJAP board in their fight to keep their docks safe and productive, and to ensure their communities keep the good, union jobs that sustain them,” says McEllrath.

From Inside Costa Rica

Stevedores, warehousemen and other workers at South Jersey Port Corp.-owned Pier 5 in South [...]]]> A top longshoremen’s union official is threatening job actions and boycotts against Del Monte produce in East Coast ports after Del Monte moved 200 banana-ship unloading and warehouse jobs from its Camden terminal to the Holt family’s lower-paying port operation in neighboring Gloucester City.

Stevedores, warehousemen and other workers at South Jersey Port Corp.-owned Pier 5 in South Camden earned wages starting at $24.50 an hour, plus benefits, moving Del Monte fruit as members of the International Longshoremens Assocation, Philadelphia-based ILA vice president James Paylor said. He says the work’s been moved to the Holt family’s Pier 7 in neighboring Gloucester, where workers earn around $12 an hour and are members of an independent union. (A source close to Holt said wages are in the $16 to $18 range, and the workers have Teamsters benefits.)

“They’re earning way below area standards,” Paylor said. “They are displacing family-sustaining jobs and replacing them with poverty jobs,” reducing tax collections and boosting medical costs in South Jersey and Philadelphia . Without the Del Monte jobs, Paylor said his union will “be down to about 500 jobs” at dock labor manager Delaware River Stevedores, and the ILA’s local pension plan will “be under pressure.”

The move came after ILA had agreed to $5 million in concessions demanded by Del Monte, Paylor told me. “It’s a crime,” he said. “I’ve never experienced anything like this in my life,” in 29 years as an ILA official covering ports up and down the East Coast.

Paylor said his union is reaching out to politicians, and government investigators, who he says should examine years of taxpayer-funded subsidies to Holt and other Delaware River port interests. He noted Del Monte is a profitable company, and acused it of “taking advantage of the situation of labor” in the slow economy.

From the Philadelphia Inquirer

[English summary: Costa Rican union leaders join elected members of parliament to denounce the crooked way in which the government helped overthrow elected longshore union leaders in January in order to force privatization of the ports of Limón and Moín. Last week the rightfully elected leaders were reinstated by Costa Rica's high court, and [...]]]>

[English summary: Costa Rican union leaders join elected members of parliament to denounce the crooked way in which the government helped overthrow elected longshore union leaders in January in order to force privatization of the ports of Limón and Moín. Last week the rightfully elected leaders were reinstated by Costa Rica's high court, and in this video elected officials express their strong and near-unanimous support for the return of the legitimately elected board.]

Todas las bancadas legislativas, con excepción de la coalisión Li-Li, dieron su total apoyo a la Junta Directiva Legítima de Sintrajap, restituída el pasado miércoles por la Sala IV.

El apoyo a la Junta Directiva Legítima de Sintrajap, liderada por Ronaldo Blear Blear, por parte de múltiples sectores es cada vez mayor. Las jefaturas de fracción de la Unidad Social Cristiana, Frente Amplio, Acción Ciudadana, Accesibilidad sin Exclusión, Restauración Nacional y Renovación Costarricense celebraron los dos fallos a favor de sendos recursos de amparo que pedían determinar la ilegalidad de las acciones tomadas en contra de la dirigencia sindical en los puertos de Limón y de Moín.

En conferencia de prensa, junto a los diputados, estuvieron Albino Vargas de la ANEP, Sergio Saborio de la Rerum Novarum y José Luis Castillo de Sintrajap.

El proceso de fiscalización de todos los proyectos de consesión de obra pública se dará con el aporte de los sindicatos.

Por Unidad de Formación, Información y Comunicación UFIC-ANEP

Since the former leadership of Sintrajap was ousted in January by the union’s general assembly – a move deemed illegal [...]]]> The Constitutional Branch of the Supreme Court (Sala IV) threw a curveball at the Limón revitalization project this week, when it called for the reinstallation of the former leadership of the Atlantic Port Authority’s union (Sintrajap).

Since the former leadership of Sintrajap was ousted in January by the union’s general assembly – a move deemed illegal by the Sala IV – a number of international workers’ organizations have voiced their concern over the situation. The International Transport Workers’ Federation accused the government of “undermining the union” and pursuing “undemocratic and potentially illegal plans.”

The U.S.-based International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Trade and Labor Affairs alleging noncompliance with labor laws and illegal government interference with union elections.

From the Tico Times

Schleicher said Hanjin executives told him earlier this week that they are “100 percent” interested in moving forward their planned $208 million terminal at Dames Point, [...]]]> Jacksonville Port Authority Chief Commercial Officer Roy Schleicher said he hopes Hanjin Shipping Co. Ltd. and the longshoremen’s union will reach a finalized agreement by the end of next month.

Schleicher said Hanjin executives told him earlier this week that they are “100 percent” interested in moving forward their planned $208 million terminal at Dames Point, which is expected to open in early 2014. He was unsure whether the labor agreement had to be voted on by local or regional members of the International Longshoremen’s Association.

ILA and Hanjin reached a tentative labor agreement in January on manning the highly-automated container terminal. The authority needs to choose a new cruise terminal since the existing terminal is where the Hanjin facility will be, but it won’t do so until the South Korean shipping company reaches an agreement with the ILA.

From the Jacksonville Business Journal

Ronaldo Blear, General Secretary of SINTRAJAP

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (August 26, 2010) — Costa Rican longshore workers are celebrating yesterday’s ruling in their country’s Constitutional Court that throws out an [...]]]> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 26, 2010
CONTACT: Jennifer Sargent, 503-703-2933

ILWU President calls high court’s order ‘an important step forward in the never-ending battle to protect workers’ rights

Ronaldo Blear, General Secretary of SINTRAJAP

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (August 26, 2010) — Costa Rican longshore workers are celebrating yesterday’s ruling in their country’s Constitutional Court that throws out an illegal, government-run coup of the democratically elected SINTRAJAP longshore union leaders. The ILWU Coast Longshore Division has advocated on behalf of the legitimate SINTRAJAP leadership, led by General Secretary Ronaldo Blear, for the past six months and is calling the ruling an important step forward in the never-ending fight to protect workers from exploitation.

“The return of the legitimate union leadership is a victory for hard-working people everywhere, who count on having the democratic right to join a union and improve their standard of living, ensure their safety and strengthen their communities,” said ILWU International President Robert McEllrath. “It’s an important step forward in the never-ending battle to protect workers from forces that would like to return to the days before union rights, when poverty and unsafe working conditions in the workplace were considered an acceptable cost of doing business.”

In January, midway through Blear’s two-year elected term as General Secretary of the SINTRAJAP union, a series of meetings, orchestrated by the Costa Rican government, took place in Limón, Costa Rica, which culminated in the removal of Blear and his fellow executive board members and the installation of a executive board led by Douglas Brenes.

Under the sham Brenes board, agreements were made that cleared the way for the concession of the ports to private interests in exchange for 80 billion Colones, which is the Costa Rican equivalent of US $137 million.  The three January meetings that culminated in Brenes’ installation and these agreements were declared null and void yesterday by the Constitutional Court, the Costa Rican equivalent of the United States Supreme Court.

Despite the Constitutional Court’s final and binding order, Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla held a news conference to announce that she will “insist on the private concession of the ports of Limón” but will “seek dialogue” with the reinstated leaders.  Other government officials have expressed “shock” and “anger” regarding the decision and indicated that a dialogue with the reinstated leadership of SINTRAJAP is highly unlikely.  Thus, it remains unclear whether or not the government intends to respect the Constitutional Court’s landmark ruling.

“The road ahead will likely be long,” said McEllrath, “but we are prepared to support the legitimate SINTRAJAP board in their fight to keep their docks safe and productive, and to ensure their communities keep the good, union jobs that sustain them.”

The SINTRAJAP union includes about 1,500 members who work for the JAPVEDA port agency in the Caribbean province of Limón, which is the poorest and most racially diverse province in Costa Rica.

The ILWU Coast Longshore Division represents 25,000 men and women on the docks of the West Coast of the United States.

For more information

See our extensive list of articles on SINTRAJAP and Costa Rica at this link.

China is increasingly importing logs, and ILWU Local 14 members recently loaded this log ship on Humboldt Bay.

Longshoremen have been loading a ship with logs being exported by Figas Construction of Eureka. The ship has kept between 17 and 34 dock workers, truck drivers, supervisors, gear men, clerks, bosses, crane operators and dispatchers [...]]]>

China is increasingly importing logs, and ILWU Local 14 members recently loaded this log ship on Humboldt Bay.

Longshoremen have been loading a ship with logs being exported by Figas Construction of Eureka. The ship has kept between 17 and 34 dock workers, truck drivers, supervisors, gear men, clerks, bosses, crane operators and dispatchers busy in recent weeks, said International Longshore Workers Union Local 14 Secretary and Treasurer Perry Bressman.

”Things are picking up [on Humboldt Bay],” Bressman said. “We’ve got a lot happening.”

With only 19 local longshoremen, the ILWU 14 has had to tap workers from Sacramento and Stockton when the tasks required, Bressman said. Bressman said that, while no guarantees have been made, longshoremen have been told that there may be several more log ships coming into Humboldt Bay in the near future.

From the Times-Standard