Wildcatters shut port in anti-Del Monte move

Dock workers in Philadelphia, New York and New Jersey walked off the job yesterday to protest plans by Del Monte Fresh Produce Co. to move its operations, which would result in a loss of union jobs.

International Longshoremen Association leadership was unaware of the "wildcat walk-off action," said ILA spokesman Frank Keel.

About 200 Local 1291 ILA workers closed down Packer Avenue Marine Terminal in the Port of Philadelphia, Keel said. One container ship sat idle yesterday because of the work stoppage, said Bill McLaughlin, a spokesman for the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority.

"Any interruption of service is not welcome," McLaughlin said. "Obviously, everybody in the PRPA hopes everybody involved comes to an agreement."

The actions were considered solidarity walkouts because of Del Monte's move from the Camden port, where an ILA contract is in place, to the smaller Gloucester City terminal where terms were cheaper and workers belong to a non-ILA union.

Both the Gloucester City terminal and the Packer Avenue Marine Terminal are operated by Astro Holdings, which is owned by the Holt family.

Other ILA walkouts are expected in Florida and Texas, Del Monte officials said.

About 1,500 ILA workers in the Port of New York and New Jersey shut down six terminals, leaving 12 ships to sit idle, said officials from the union and the New York Shipping Association, the group that represents terminal operators.

Late yesterday afternoon, Judge Dickinson R. Debevoise of the U.S. District Court, New Jersey, ordered the ILA members in New York and New Jersey back to work after the shipping association filed a petition.

"Del Monte no doubt got the message today," Keel said. "The issue isn't going away and neither is the ILA."