Port Chief Agrees to Sign Harbor Pilots’ Delayed Contract

Six weeks after lodging an unfair labor practices complaint against the Port of Los Angeles, the tiny harbor pilots union announced Thursday that the port’s top-ranking executive has finally agreed to sign the contract that ended its strike last November.

In a grievance filed with the city’s Employee Relations Board, the 14-member union had accused harbor General Manager Larry A. Keller of improperly delaying its new contract, which had been approved in principle by the City Council and Board of Harbor Commissioners.

But after discussions this week between the union and the port, Keller agreed to sign the original contract on the condition the harbor pilots drop their complaint against him.

Keller had refused to sign the strike-ending agreement, saying that he disagreed with a contract provision that deals with the way the pilots set their work schedules. Initially, Keller agreed to the contract language in question.

“I think there is now a desire to put everything behind us and start fresh,” said Elizabeth Garfield, the attorney for the Los Angeles Port Pilots Assn. “We have put this ordeal behind us. We have a contract.”

Keller, who is on vacation, was unavailable for comment Thursday.

Barbara Yamamoto, the port’s communications director, said that all remaining issues have been worked out with the union, clearing the way for the final contract to be signed. Council members are expected to approve the agreement within two weeks.

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The city’s harbor pilots, who are responsible for steering cargo ships through the busy Port of Los Angeles, went on strike July 11, 1997. They returned to work Nov. 26, after entering an agreement to raise their annual salaries from $113,700 to $140,600 by 2001.

To end the dispute, all parties, including Keller, signed a letter of intent on Nov. 14, 1997, which spelled out the contents of a new contract. Less than two weeks later, the pilots’ association, the City Council, and harbor commission approved the deal.

Over the last few months, while working out the final language of the contract, Keller developed second thoughts about one provision. The section states that port pilots shall be assigned to schedules they had before the strike, unless they choose, in order of seniority, to move to another shift.

Keller thought that the union had misrepresented to him the importance of seniority in determining who works what shift, Yamamoto said. As a result, he did not want the letter of intent attached to the final contract.

The harbor pilots, who have been without a contract or pay raises since the strike ended, charged that Keller had no choice but to sign the agreement because the city and the port had agreed to attach the letter of intent to the final contract.

Garfield said that Keller will sign the contract with the letter of intent attached, which represents no change in contract terms for the harbor pilots.

During discussions with Keller, Garfield said, the union also settled several other grievances against the port. They involved the disciplining of one union member and attempts by the port to deal directly with harbor pilots instead of going through union officials.