Harbor Workers Approve Contract

While stalled talks between dockworkers and shipping companies threaten the entire West Coast, the tiny Port of Hueneme secured a bit of labor peace Wednesday night when its unionized employees overwhelmingly approved a three-year contract.

The contract with the Service Employees International Union Local 998 covers two clerks, eight maintenance workers and eight wharfingers, who coordinate vessel traffic through the port. The contract was approved by a 13-4 vote.

Meanwhile, members of the larger International Longshore and Warehouse Union, who are not employed directly by harbor districts, are working without a contract. Negotiations with the Pacific Maritime Assn., which represents shipping companies and importers, have broken down.

Under the new Port of Hueneme contract, wages for the average wharfinger or maintenance worker will rise from $23.40 an hour to $26.80 and hour in the final year of the agreement.