A LOTTERY for coveted part-time dockers' jobs at the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports has restarted after it was abruptly suspended on Monday when union officials pulled out of the process.
An arbitrator ordered the drawing to restart when he intervened in the dispute after the International Longshore and Warehouse Union refused to participate in the process negotiated with its employer, the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), said Wade Gates, a spokesperson for the PMA who released information about the ruling.
Officials from the ILWU representing local port workers were not available for comment, the Long Beach Press Telegram reported.
Tens of thousands of hopefuls submitted their names for the drawing, which will guarantee winners a freelance job as a "casual" longshore worker and the possibility of becoming a full-time union member raking in more than US$100,000 a year.
Bobby Olvera Jr., president of ILWU Local 13, said in a text that the local, which represents 7,000 dockworkers, decided to withdraw from the lottery on Monday after its membership voted unanimously to pause the process until issues were addressed and resolved.
Although he declined to specify what those issues were, he said they were serious and "presented by the union and summarily rejected by the PMA".
"PMA and InterOptimis screwed up the process and violated the joint agreement," he texted, referring to the Moorpark-based company handling the drawing of names.
