A Sad Note.............

A bulletin from the ILWU. It is never good to see someone killed on the job. It just goes to show that Longshoremen have one of the most dangerous jobs.

LONGSHORE WORKER KILLED AT PORT OF LONG
BEACH PORT; TERMINAL OPERATIONS HALTED

(LONG BEACH, CA) Cargo handling at one of the terminals at America's second busiest port
ground to a halt on Friday following the dockside death of Carlos Rivera, 73, a longshore worker
with more than 40 years experience on the waterfront.
“Longshore work is dangerous, but it doesn’t have to be deadly,”said Joseph Cortez, Local 13
President of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) that represents over
15,000 longshore workers at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
More than a dozen longshore workers have been killed on the west coast during the past six years.
This is the second fatality in Southern California since 2005.
“This tragedy affects the entire ILWU family,” said Cortez. “Carlos came in to the industry with
me.”
Rivera was working against a ship at the California United Terminal (CUT) at the Port of Long
Beach when he was struck and killed. Details on the cause of death are being investigated.
Union leaders met Friday with officials of the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), the Port of
Long Beach, and California United Terminals (CUT). The union is seeking an immediate
investigation of the death and will halt cargo handling at the CUT facility in Long Beach for 24
hours.
The union is currently negotiating a new contract with the Pacific Maritime Association that
covers 25,000 longshore workers at 29 west coast ports in California, Oregon and Washington.
The union is seeking stronger safety provisions to curb more than one-dozen fatalities that have
occurred during the current contract which began on July 1, 2002 and expires this July 1.

ILWU bulletin April 4, 2008 For Immediate Release