THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, April 20, 1996 TAG: 9604200349
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CHRISTOPHER DINSMORE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines
The International Longshoremen's Association has agreed to wage concessions to help resuscitate the ailing Lambert's Point Docks Inc., port and labor officials said Friday.
The ILA membership voted ``overwhelmingly'' to approve the agreement over the past two weeks, said Edward L. Brown, ILA international vice president.
The small Norfolk cargo terminal, adjacent to the West Ghent neighborhood, primarily handles so-called ``break-bulk'' cargos such as rubber, steel and plywood, which aren't shipped in large shipping containers.
The terminal, which is owned by Norfolk Southern Corp., has lost a substantial amount of cargo in the past few years to other ports with less expensive labor. Its largest shipping line, Waterman Steamship Corp., left the terminal last June for Morehead City, N.C.
``Our costs were so high, we just weren't competitive,'' said H.R. ``Bob'' Jones, president of Lambert's Point Docks.
The agreement between the ILA and port management still needs to be signed before it can be implemented, Jones said.
The ILA membership agreed to a fixed $15 an hour wage to unload break-bulk cargo at Lambert's Point Docks, Brown said. Longshoremen had earned $15, $20 or $21 an hour depending on seniority.
The agreement also lowers warehouse wages to $10 an hour on the terminal and $8 an hour off it, Brown said. Warehouse workers had been making $12 an hour.
``I think the ILA saw the problem we had and they jumped in to help,'' Jones said. ``This will be a boost for the whole port and the ILA.''
``We have made Hampton Roads more competitive,'' Brown said. ``The wages and costs for using Hampton Roads had to come down for break-bulk cargo.''
Now port officials will be able to offer wages at Lambert's Point Docks that are competitive with other ports to prospective shippers, Jones said. Jones plans to target some upcoming shipments of steel, aluminum, paper and possibly even railroad locomotives.
``This is specifically designed to bring in new cargo,'' Jones said.
``We may also regain some of the lines we have lost,'' said Brown, suggesting Waterman may want to come back.
Working at Lambert's Point Docks for the lower wage rate will be voluntary for the ILA's 2,000 members, nearly all of whom have steady work at other terminals, Brown said.
``There hasn't been enough work at Lambert's Point Docks to keep more than a few people busy,'' Brown said.
Brown estimates that the agreement could create 80 to 100 new ILA jobs if some new business comes to the port.
The ILA has added about 280 new people, mostly replacing retiring members, since February 1995 when it developed an apprenticeship program with management to help boost break-bulk cargo shipments, Brown said.
Jones estimates the terminal will handle about 150,000 tons of cargo in 1996, down from 449,000 tons two years ago. Much of that cargo was lost to terminals in other ports that paid lower wages for break-bulk cargo handling.
The agreement to lower wages came together in the past month, Jones said.
He credited the agreement largely to Joseph A. Dorto, general manager and chief executive of Virginia International Terminals Inc., which operates the port's state-owned terminals.
Jones said Dorto developed the idea and helped push for it.
VIT will also lease warehouse space at Lambert's Point and unload some cargos there, Jones said. by CNB