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Source: The Baltimore SunOct.mini storage 16--All cargo operations at the Port of Baltimore's public marine terminals ground to a halt Wednesday after a local longshoremen's union failed to ratify a contract agreement with port operators Tuesday night.Crowds of International Longshoremen's Association Local 333 members stood outside entrances to Dundalk Marine Terminal holding signs saying, "No contract, no work," and "ILA Port of Baltimore on STRIKE!"The port's 400-foot super post-Panamax cranes stood quiet and motionless in the distance at Seagirt Marine Terminal, where strikers also gathered. Only a few trucks passed through the normally busy gates.John Furman, 28, of Essex, who grew up in South Baltimore with a longshoreman father and grandfather, said he would prefer to be working, but was participating in the strike to ensure he can provide for his family in coming years."It's a job," he said of his career for the last 11 years. "You don't want to see work leaving, you want to see work coming in. Then again you want something to work against. You want a good contract."The contract in question covers local workplace issues. A broader master agreement covering compensation and rules for container and vehicular shipments at all East Coast ports was reached between port operators and unions earlier this year. Though several cities' unions are still negotiating local agrrements, Baltimore is the only one facing a strike.The Local No. 333 is one of four unions representing some 1,200 dockworkers in Baltimore, and has been in extended negotiations regarding localized workplace issues with the Steamship Trade Association of Baltimore, which negotiates for port operators.On Tuesday night, the union's members voted 517 to 25 against the proposed contract, and following that vote, national ILA officials ordered Local 333 to go on strike, said Riker McKenzie, president of Local 333.He declined to elaborate.Harold Daggett, the ILA's national president, declined on Wednesday to comment on the breakdown of talks in Baltimore.The other three local unions, which have signed local contracts with the Steamship Trade Association, are honoring Local No. 333's decision and not working either, port officials said.Richard Scher, a Maryland Port Administration spokesman, said the Steamship Trade Association is "working as we speak to expedite arbitration procedures with the goal of requiring the labor force to go back to work," but the situation remains fluid."Obviously it's not a good situation for the port, it's not a good situation for our port customers and it's obviously not a good situation for the men and women who work here," Scher said.Michael Angelos, president of the Steamship Trade Association of Baltimore, said he is urging union officials to return to the negotiating table, but could not comment on details of those negotiations or on the legal mechanism the association might pursue to get workers back on the job prior to a signed contract."We had been negotiating for quite some time and I think we have to get back to the table," he said. "There's no reason not to continue that under good-faith bargaining efforts."The Master Agreement governing port operations up and down the East Coast has a "no strike provision" that Local No. 333 is violating, he said.McKenzie declined to discuss specifics of the contract dispute Wednesday, other than to say trade association officials "have been just flat out refusing to engage" with union negotiators on a number of "housekee迷你倉ing issues."In August, Riker said the union was pushing for port operators to more fully acknowledge the longshoremen's contributions to the port's recent successes.He said there are "gray areas" of the contract, such as whether a member would be paid while facing a grievance, that need to be cleared up."The language has to be more user friendly and more clean, clear and concise," McKenzie said in August, when national union and trade officials came to Baltimore to participate in localized negotiations.Longshoremen at the port said they were frustrated with contract extensions taking the place of real contracts in recent years, and had concerns about workplace conditions and safety.The strike's impact on the port will depend in part on how long it lasts, Scher said."Ships will come in at the port, they'll dock at the port, and we don't believe they'll be redirected if this situation lasts for only a day or two," said Scher, noting some ships may choose to anchor in the port's channel to wait out the strike.In a prolonged strike, cargo may be diverted to other ports.Angelos, of the Steamship Trade Association, said the strike is already impacting shipping lines, stevedoring companies, terminal operators and other service providers to the port."A strike always has a very strong effect on the economy, and certainly it's going to anger people," Angelos said. "And don't forget the trucking community is effected greatly, because they depend a lot on the port."Over the summer, the trade association sued Local No. 333 after longshoremen refused to work a ship at the port, because of a workforce dispute. That litigation was resolved in arbitration, Angelos said.The strike comes as the port, under a public-private partnership with Ports America, looks to ramp up operations in time to begin accepting more, larger ships from the Panama Canal, which is being widened.While the port administration has no seat at the negotiation table and doesn't hire ILA longshoremen, Scher said it is monitoring the situation closely."We obviously keep in close contact with both sides and we obviously strongly encourage them to negotiate, but we don't have a seat at that negotiating table," he said. "It's regrettable that the port of Baltimore is the only port from Maine to Texas that is not working today."Wednesday morning at around 8:15 a.m., traffic along Broening Highway slowed as truck drivers drove by honking their horns.Some appeared to be in support of the strikers, while others did not.Omahie Mitchell, 33, a longshoreman for the last 10 years, said the strikers want to see a willingness from port operators to update the existing contract -- which has been extended for about two years already.But all port operators want "is to have their set of rules, their language, that's it," Mitchell said.He said management "shorts our labor, cuts corners, cuts out costs," which raises safety and manpower concerns."We're dealing with tons and tons of weight and you can die in an instant," he said. "We're tired of being violated."Eric Basso, 39, of Catonsville, who has been a longshoreman for the past two years, said he was out on Broening Highway striking "to stand behind my brothers and sisters.""What's going on here is going on all over the country with corporations just trying to take, take, take," he said.krector@baltsun.comtwitter.com/rectorsunCopyright: ___ (c)2013 The Baltimore Sun Visit The Baltimore Sun at .baltimoresun.com Distributed by MCT Information Services文件倉