Mr. Knox also chairs the Select Committee on California's Middle Class, a committee that was established to address the erosion of wages and benefits for middle-class workers throughout the state. The PMA is appealing to the general public to drive the ILWU out of the middle class. Citing those numbers, employers see little danger that dockworkers will lose their middle-class status. Dockworkers charge that the PMA figures are misleading because hundreds of so-called casual workers who have not yet earned full union status work significantly fewer hours and earn less than half of what senior dockworkers earn. The ILWU's demands for wage increases in the new contract will not be determined until the union completes its caucus in March, ILWU President Brian McWilliams said through a spokesman.
History demonstrates that money has been an issue in virtually every contract, however.
Other issues of concern to the ILWU are clearer, as evidenced by an educational campaign the union has launched to alert its members to certain core issues that union leaders believe will be under attack. For example, the ILWU is concerned that retired dockworkers could lose such benefits as medical and dental coverage unless those are made permanent contract provisions. Such benefits currently must be renegotiated with each contract. Employers are aware of that concern, but it must be addressed in a manner that is actuarially sound, Mr. Miniace said. That's a huge, huge benefit they're asking for.