In a port labor contract dispute separate from the larger negotiations between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), the eighteen members of Service Employees International Union Local 998 employed as wharf and clerical workers at the Port of Hueneme, this Monday authorized their negotiators to call a strike. Having reached agreements on sick leave and holidays, but still at odds over pay, pensions and medical benefits, the union has secured promises from the ILWU and the Teamsters that they would honor Local 998 picket lines if the union strikes. Apparently upset by the forceful tactics of the union, managers at the port declared an impasse in talks on Monday and no new meetings have been scheduled despite management?s claims that it wants to return to bargaining.
See "Union Flexes Its Muscles as Talks Stall at Harbor", GREGORY W. GRIGGS, Los Angeles Times, August 20, 2002