The Connie is awarded for peace on the waterfront and not for any outstanding achievement
Maritime achievement awards are mostly a serious symbol of respect by the industry, and are devoid of the fripperies of their counterparts in other industries, notably the Oscars. Hollywood tends to ignore the best movies and performances during the year, with Titanic an apt and spectacular example, instead honoring those who are currently favored by the movers and shakers.
But, as any Hollywood star will tell you, the big secret of success is timing – both in acting and award giving. Shipping should learn a thing or two.
The annual Connie winners -- James McKenna, head of the Pacific Maritime Association and Robert McEllrath, boss of the ILWU trade union, which rules the West Coast-- have just been honored at a gala dinner held by the promoters, the Containerization and Intermodal Institute. The two men were recognized "for efforts in securing a six-year contract covering more than 25,000 dockworkers at 29 West Coast ports," according to the Journal of Commerce, which is represented on the board of directors. "Both said it meets the needs of both workers and the industry. It allows West Coast ports to be competitive and provides the good jobs that workers and communities need."
The most illustrious winner of the award is undoubtedly Malcolm McLean, the man who brought in containerization, and his ghost is no doubt wondering what this year's recipients did to deserve the honor. The official citation says recipients "have made extraordinary contributions to the evolution of containerized shipping and intermodalism." (Emphasis added).
Many in the industry are also wondering what was so extraordinary and most would say McKenna and McEllrath were merely doing their job. In the process, they have maintained the status quo in waterfront labor contracts, with the union getting a guaranteed 16 percent wage increase over six years, plus equally lucrative medical and related benefits.
Perhaps the award sponsors should bone up on grammar basics, particularly the definitions of the past and present tenses, as applied to "have made". The PMA and the union say they will improve productivity and get back market share from the East Coast. In fact, crane moves are stuck at an abysmal 25 per hour, truly efficient terminal methods have yet to be introduced and more market share is being lost.
If good intentions were the criteria for awards, we would all up for nomination.
The only achievement is that peace was kept. No strikes or lockouts during the negotiations – which kept to their usual pattern of going months over deadline because of nitpicking over specific words in the contract and arguments about one or two cent differences.
Childish behavior by the union has also been honored. During contract negotiations, the ILWU contravened the rules of the existing agreement, because all workers on some shifts were told to take their breaks at the same time, instead of staggering the breaks, which brought terminal operations to a standstill. This is the equivalent of the beach bully kicking over a sand castle and then daring the victims to teach him a lesson.
The bad timing? Cargo volumes have crashed, shipping lines are badly hurt, tens of thousands of jobs have been lost, but the industry is pleased that the dockers are doing just fine.