[PEN-L:30654] Death for Labor

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Dow Jones Business News
Train Operator Killed In Trial Run Of NYC Airport Train
Friday September 27, 11:17 pm ET


NEW YORK (AP)--A train operator was killed Friday when the train derailed
during a test of a new light rail system designed to link John F. Kennedy
International Airport with public transport lines.
Pasquale DiFulco, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New
Jersey, said three cars of the AirTrain went off the tracks.

The operator, Kelvin DeBourgh, 23, was the only person aboard, DiFulco said.
He worked for Bombardier, the company that designed, built and was testing
the rail system, which it will ultimately operate, DiFulco said.

It wasn't immediately clear what caused the crash. The Port Authority was
investigating.

The train was scheduled to start carrying passengers by the end of the year.
It wasn't immediately clear whether the crash would delay the start of
AirTrain service.





Dow Jones Business News
Maritime Association Locks Out West Coast Longshoremen
Friday September 27, 11:41 pm ET


Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO -- The association representing shipping lines decided to lock
out longshoremen at all U.S. West Coast ports until Sunday morning, as
contract negotiations deteriorated.

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The 36-hour "cooling-off period," which will immediately curtail the flow of
goods across the nation, was announced after the Pacific Maritime
Association accused the longshoremen's union of slowing down the pace of
work as a tactic to gain leverage in increasingly acrimonious talks.

The association's board met Friday morning and unanimously agreed to shutter
the ports, according to president Joseph Miniace. The lockout was scheduled
to begin Friday evening.

He called it "a very, very tough decision," but one that the association had
to make because the union was bargaining in bad faith. "It's the very last
thing we wanted to do," said Mr. Miniace. "But the union forced us into
this."

A spokesman for the International Longshore and Warehouse Union said union
negotiators wanted to keep talking. The union learned of the lockout Friday
morning from association negotiators when the two sides met for talks.

"Miniace showed the same disrespect for the union he has since the beginning
of these talks," said union president James Spinosa. "He is unilaterally
taking the action of closing all ports and bears full responsibility for its
effects on the American economy."

Friday evening, the two sides agreed to meet Saturday at noon. But the
antagonism had moved beyond the negotiating room.

During the evening, officials said they called police to escort workers from
the Maersk terminal in Oakland. A dispute broke out after workers said
superintendents had tried to do the union-protected job of lashing down
containers on a vessel.

The lockout could stanch the flow of products from Asia just as importers
are rushing to distribute goods for the holiday season. The association has
said that a coastwide labor disruption could cost the U.S. economy around $1
billion per day. The ports handle more than $300 billion in imports and
exports each year.

"At this point we are hopeful the two parties will come back to the
bargaining table in good faith," said Department of Labor spokeswoman Sue
Hensley. "We are monitoring this very closely."

Word of the lockout prompted a federal mediator to fly in Friday to San
Francisco.

Every day the ports are shut takes about a week for kinks and backlogs in
the supply to get worked out, said Robin Lanier, whose West Coast Waterfront
Coalition represents importers and exporters. He added if the shutdown drags
on, major retailers may find themselves without product they've slated for
special promotions.

The crisis was foreshadowed Thursday evening, when the association said
longshoremen were slowing the pace of work at ports in Los Angeles, Oakland,
Portland, Ore., Seattle and Tacoma, Wash.

The union had issued a directive earlier Thursday telling the 10,500 workers
it represents at all 29 major Pacific ports to work in strict accordance
with all safety and health rules. The union says five longshoremen have died
in West Coast ports since mid-March, and that the crush of cargo has made
the docks an even more chaotic and dangerous workplace.

Mr. Spinosa said work rates have hummed along at record levels in recent
weeks, but that longshoremen wouldn't continue to cut corners and risk their
safety if the association wouldn't bargain in good faith.

The association has consistently said that if it determined workers were
slowing down their pace on purpose, there would be a lockout.

On Friday, the group reported that productivity in some ports had dropped by
as much as 90%. In Oakland, the association said, one of the massive cranes
that typically unloads 30 containers each hour averaged just three
containers overnight. It cited other examples along the coast.

"ILWU members are effectively striking while working, causing the threat of
economic hardship on four million American workers whose livelihoods depend
on these ports, as well as the thousands of companies whose cargo is being
held hostage at the terminals," said Mr. Miniace.

The two sides have been bargaining over a new contract for months, but talks
have steadily deteriorated.

The talks crumbled this week over the question of how to implement new
technology, an issue shipping lines have stressed they must resolve before
signing a new contract. The union says it doesn't oppose new technology, but
wants guarantees that positions created by technological advances are union
covered.

The association says a growth in trade will translate into more union jobs
over time, but the union shouldn't dictate that it gets every new job
created by new technology.