Longshore-labor-relations.com

In what seems to be continuing fallout from Local 8 driving Elvis out of Portland, another Company has filed a lawsuit against 154 individual longshoremen claiming payroll fraud and RICO violations related to the practice of working 4&4.

This is what happens when you pour elk piss on the windshield of the grain company manager. Paybacks are a bitch.

The company is asking for $15, 934,881 in damages, divided by 154 individuals, which means each person would owe $103,473.25.

If every longshoreman working 4&4 thought they might have to pay back the money for the hours they were gone, would that end the practice?

Hell yes!

Here is the entire lawsuit.

Thanks Local 8, and Leal.

Last week, under a cloud of controversy, Local 23 President, Deano McGrath resigned.

The sign-up sheet has been posted.

Looks like Roger got his brother to drop out, so he could show everyone he is the shot caller in his family. Just like Roger, who would stab anyone in the back to get what he wants, even his own family.

Vance decided to throw his hat in the ring, after all Phil’s family has been running the Local forever.

Todd thinks his kiss ass Newsletter will get him elected.

Jed is the guy trying to help Basher get Mike accused of assaulting Chuck, and a total fucking moron.

Jim is an unknown at this time.

Aaron was the Crane Safety guy, and seems interested in stepping up.

Time to give someone new a shot?

Local 23 has been electing the same clique of guys for years.

Time to get rid of Basher and his crew of ball washers?

Time to go in a different direction, maybe even in the direction of actually representing all the workers and not just friends and family?

Of all the guys who have thrown their hats in the ring, Aaron Kamel would be my pick.

He is a straight shooter and won’t take shit from Basher or his PMA buddies.

He might even save the Local some money, by cutting down on the number of NLRB charges being filed.

What do you think?

The following American Shipper article detailing Local 13’s latest antics related to Maersk’s plans to automate Pier 400 in the Port of Los Angeles, is well written and nicely captures the differences between Terminal Operators and the ILWU.

Click the link below to go to the American Shipper article:

https://t.co/vzqmB41p7S

The subject of robots moving cargo on the LA/LB docks is so hot that the President of the Harbor Commission, Jamie Lee, pulled discussion of the permit request by APMT (Maersk Shipping Company) to perform engineering work which will ultimately allow for self-guided straddle carriers.

The reason given for pulling the permit discussions from the agenda was “because of the large number of speakers who had showed up for the meeting.”

Really?

Was it the large number of longshoremen, or the number of large longshoremen who showed up to disrupt the meeting, that freaked out the Harbor Commission?

Why are the Local 13 longshoremen so upset?

Did Mark not tell them this is the 3rd dock to convert to robot operations?

Pier 400 is not the 1st, or the 2nd, but the 3rd dock to convert.

The problem is that Local 13 has been lying to their members about the 1st and 2nd robot docks, and have refused to provide the members copies of the agreements for those operations.

John Ochs was correct to point out that the Employers have a contractual right to introduce labor saving devices that dates back to July 1934.

Mark Mendoza knows that Harry Bridges and the ILWU negotiated the M&M Agreement in the 1960’s which is why there are already 2 other robot docks operating in LA/LB.

Time for the ILWU to stop whining and lying to their membership and give them all the information.

Longshore work is changing, but it is not going away.

There will always be longshoremen needed to tie up and let go the ships, lashing work will still be done by humans, and someone will have to service and repair the robots.

Stop whining and start working out or become a mechanic, because it takes muscles to lash and mechanics to service and repair robots.

But first, stop lying and give your members all the information, including the existing robot operation agreements.

Here is the Settlement Agreement between Local 23 and the NLRB regarding access to and copies of JPLRC Minutes.

The Union must provide UNREDACTED copies of JPLRC Minutes.

The Union can no longer hide their practice of favoritism, and lying to members about what the JPLRC is doing.

The official NLRB double-eagle color poster will be in the Hall soon.

Ask Faker for UNREDACTED JPLRC Minutes, he was the one ordering the redacting.

The rest of Eunice’s Case is in DC at the NLRB Office of Appeals and is actively being worked on.

Chug, chug, chug…….

For those who have never been inside a Robot crane, this is what the driver sees.

Robot crane driver’s operate up to 5 or more cranes.

As soon as the load lands, the screen changes to another crane in the que.

Yesterday at 4:20 PM, Local 13 called for an emergency Executive Board meeting to discuss the Maersk robot operation.

Local 13 has known for over 1 year, that Maersk was switching over to a robot dock but did not feel the need to share that information.

Ask Victor Hudak, x-Secretary/Treasurer he has been telling his buddies all about it.

Local 13 has also refused to share the robot operation manning reduction agreements with their membership.

Come on Mark.

Step up and share with your members.

Also, just so you know LBCT has been using 9.43 Steadymen for the last year.

LBCT’s steady crane drivers are shifted to hammerhead or transtainer or rail, just like Local 10’s 9.43 Steadymen.

Local 23 and PMA refused to settle, and on January 17, 2019, NLRB Region 19 issued the following Complaint and Notice of Hearing.

PMA and Local 23 refused offers of a non-Board settlement and the proposed settlement sent to PMA and Local 23 on December 13, 2018.

Does PMA really think they can convince a Judge that it is ok to refuse to accept the Doctor’s excuse, that was provided at the meeting that Toby was cited to appear at, to explain his low hours?

Is PMA really clueless enough to agree with Jarod Faker’s moronic claim that Toby’s excuse was not valid because it was not date stamped by the Local 23 secretary?

It sure looks like it.

PMA has gone downhill big time, since I worked there.

It’s not like the Union didn’t try to go after guys they didn’t like back then, but we did not allow behavior like this back in the day.

It makes me laugh to think what George Ginnis would have to say about Faker besides; “Fakers are useless as tits on bacon.”

Let the fun begin……

Jarod Faker and his PMA buddies decided to deregister Local 23 B-man Toby Jackson in November 2017.

According to the following draft Settlement Agreement sent to Local 23 and PMA on December 13, 2018, Jarod Faker and Local 23 violated Toby’s rights and PMA colluded with the Union in violating Toby’s rights.

Near the end of 2017, Jarod Faker and his buddies, Deano McGrath and Dave Basher, decided to “get rid” of some of the B-men they did not like because they were going to be advancing in November 2017.

Jarod and his buddies decided that they were not going to allow Chiropractic appointments to accepted as medical excuses for low hours.

Apparently the brain trust at PMA, I hear they have law degrees now, decided to go along with Faker’s plan and in October 2017 the JPLRC told Toby that the Chiropractic excuses, they had been accepting for years, were no longer acceptable and issued him a Letter of 1st Warning for low hours.

The next month, Toby was cited again by Faker and crew with the standard PMA issued JPLRC cite letter, which told him they had a problem with his excuse, but failed to tell him what their specific problem was.

When Toby appeared, he was told that he had failed to provide any excuse for his low hours.

Toby told the Committee that he had turned in his excuse as usual and was told by Faker that they did not have any paperwork from him.

Toby pulled out a copy of the paperwork he submitted and provided it to the Committee, who told him his paperwork was not acceptable because it was not date-stamped by the Local 23 secretary.

Toby was found guilty of his 2nd low hours violation, and he was deregistered 1 week before he would have been made an A-man.

PMA went along with Faker’s refusal to accept Toby’s medical excuse, because it was not date-stamped by the Local 23 secretary.

Toby handed it to them, at the meeting he was cited to appear at to explain his low hours, and they refused to accept it because it was not date-stamped.

Faker’s idea, and PMA went along. WOW.

Toby went to the NLRB and filed a charge against both Local 23 and PMA.

In December 2018 the NLRB General Counsel in Washington DC decided that PMA was guilty of colluding with Local 23 to deny Toby’s rights and Region 19 sent both PMA and Local 23 the following Settlement Agreement.

If they refuse to settle, the Region will issue a Complaint and Notice of Hearing and we will go to trial.

In case you are wondering what the make whole amount is going to be, here are excerpts from the PMA Annual Report for 2016 and 2017.

Jarod and crew have cost Toby 1 year as an A-man, plus his benefits, and the amount keeps growing and includes interest.

Jarod and crew don’t care. It’s not their money.

When the government gets back to work this will continue…….

Check out the new flier passed out at the Local 13 membership meeting last night.

Steady hammerhead drivers and their Employers have been violating their agreement to send transtainer jobs to the Hall, since 2003, and were covered-up by current International Officers.

Everyone of the Officers listed on the JPLRC Minutes on page 2, except D. Serrato and D. Brunac, were President, Vice-President, or Secretary/Treasurer, of Local 13 after 2003, and refused to enforce the agreement NOT to assign steady hammerhead drivers to transtainers.

The list also includes current International Officers; Vice-President Bobby Olvera Jr, and Coast Committeeman Frank Ponce de Leon Jr.

NOT one of them enforced the agreement, and they all knew what was happening, in fact past President Jo Jo Cortez was doing it himself last week.

This will continue as long as the steady crane drivers employment history is hidden from the Hall men.

Time to put the steady men’s work history in the Records Clerk’s Office, just like the Hall men’s work history is now?

Check out the Fourth Amended Complaint filed in Eric’s lawsuit.

The following file was obtained through the PACER system.

The actual Fourth Amended Complaint starts on page 6 of the following PDF file.

My favorite part is first sentence of item 35, on page 13.

Here is the complete document: 

Enjoy the read, the document speaks for itself.

Call the ILWU and ask them how they plan to fix this.

When did the Union Executive Board meetings become “covered work” and part of the PCLCD grievance procedure?

Since Union Arbitrator Tommy Clark issued this moronic Section 13.2 Decision;

Or for those who prefer PDF; NCGM-0004-2018.

According to the July 1, 2014, Letter of Understanding Regarding Proper Application of Section 13, grievances are only considered valid if they involve “employment covered by the PC&LCA.”

Tommy Clark either can’t read, or does’t care about, what was agreed to in the July 1, 2014, LOU.

What is going on with the ILWU and PMA?

Business Agent Mike Kennedy gets assaulted by a member right outside the dispatch hall related to an EC, but the PMA and Local 23 say it is not covered by the PCLCD?

Members getting time off for nonsense claims of retaliation related to what happened in an Executive Board meeting, like it is not an intra-union fractional quarrel?

Idiots being enabled by morons?

Homey don’t play that!