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 told me. 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 told me. "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.
Thomas Holt Jr. and Leo Holt, who run the Delaware River port operations built by their father, were in a meeting and unavailable for comment, according to their office. Del Monte spokeswoman Chrissy Stengel wasn't immediately available.
If I were Del Monte I would avoid this union too. They are the scruge of the free market, twisted by greed from their core principles.— GDornhoefer- I agree...I'm with Del Monte. They have employees also. Although I'm sure they are more concerned with their bottom line. If it were my company I would do the same.— eod2001
- On the contrary, Del Monte is twisted by greed. Companies are cutting to the bone to maximize profits without any regard to the people they employ or the communities they operate in. The union made $5 million in concession, but still that was not enough. It is not only the union jobs that are lost but also the impact on two quality operators in the port: South Jersey Port Corporation and Delaware River Stevedores.— portguy
- $25 an hour, and bennies to unload a bananas? Insane!— habitualloser2
- Lets see here... I own a business and I can the same or equitable service for half the cost, at almost no negative impact on my business. Hmmm... What is the problem here? Prices are determined by what the market will bare, not what unions say they should be. What part of economics class did these guys sleep through?— puddydawg
- So rather than be held hostage by these goons, Del Monte is taking advantage of more cost efficient labor? What, exactly, is the problem? Why does the ILA feel that Del Monte is under an obligation to provide jobs to its members?— jfar86
I love it when unions start fighting each other.- Hey habitualloser2, have you ever off loaded bananas or anything else from a ship?? Not as easy as you think and if an accident happens, it usually causes serious injury or worse....— tiredofthewhining
- tiredofthewhining.........you should realize that those who bash unions are (1) jealous they are not in a union and (2) wouldn't know what hard work is if it bit them— s1360m
- people aren't in unions because unions chased the jobs away. not jealous, just annoyed that unions have helped destroy american manufacturing. $12/hr is likley the starting wage. $16-18 plus benefits isn't exactly poverty wages.— dreinterests
Comment removed.- T. S. unions. You reap what you sow. Good for Del Monte. They owe you nothing. Unions are the reason why there are no manufacturing jobs left in the Northeast. Del Monte's action will allow them to remain a little longer. What do you theink was the reason all the pier in Philadelphia disappeared?— wlkelly
- I love it when people strictly blame Unions for manufacturing jobs leaving. Its called globalization, even if there weren't any unions, companies would still be shipping jobs over to China and India because they pay over there is $1 a day. Sure unions contributed to the downfall of manufacturing jobs in the US, but they are not the sole reason. I don't envy dock workers, when a ship is in, they can work from 6am until 11pm.— Fuzzy_Dunlop
- Kelly thinks loading bananas = manufacturing. It's actually the kind of job that was and could be local, union and relatively hi-paid for many years, if, as Humboldt says, the US import-export unions were well-organized and weren't undercutting each other, Teamsters vs ILA— distefj
- Lower cost of labor means lower price of the product on supermarket's shelves. So, by decreasing the wagers for a few Del Monte is actually saving money for many. Does anyone see anything wrong with it? I don't.— hollandpa
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