5 Alaskan longshoremen arrested in protest over labor by Carnival

[DaytonCruiser]

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/local/sfl-69carnival,0,1963980.story?coll=sfla-business-headlines

 

Exerpt:

 

Posted June 9 2005, 8:33 AM EDT

WHITTIER, Alaska -- Five longshoremen were arrested during a protest Wednesday over a cruise ship company's alleged use of foreign workers to handle passenger luggage.

 

The arrests occurred when the longshoremen tried to place themselves in front of a tour bus headed to a Carnival Cruise Line ship in Whittier, Alaska. Those arrested were charged with disorderly conduct and trespassing, according to KTUU-TV in Anchorage.

[LHP]

I have never heard of anyone but Carnival folks delivering the luggage to each stateroom door.

 

The porters that take it from the car (or buses) to the ship has always been American workers. But once on the ship, Carnival folks do the rest.

 

What are we suppose to do, wait until the Longshoremen have delivered each piece of luggage to every cabin before we can leave the dock???

 

That just doesn't make sense.

[Nancyquilts]

And who would be responsible for vetting the longshoremen to be sure they wouldn't bring other undesirable goods aboard? Would they have to go through security every time they came onboard? We've been on many cruises, and never had anyone but the ship's staff delivering bags. Nancy

[LHP]

Nancy: My family and I had the opportunity to visit your area last summer and loved it. We also got to go to the Infineon Raceway , while we were there and take advantage of the company suite. I am hooked the VSittui Winery (I know I spelled it wrong).

 

We are headed to our Alaskan cruise on July 6th. Heaven help anyone that tries to stop our bus!!

 

First rule of common sense....don't get between me and my cruise!!!

[Nancyquilts]

LHP-

Viansa Winery?

Have a great cruise!

[CruiseIsGood]

Check the Alaska boards. They weren't trying to bring luggage to rooms, just to do what was contractually stated, loading and unloading the ship, not bringing anything to your stateroom. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=188993

[Nancyquilts]

The cruise ship company also issued a statement in which it said the disagreement arose over the positioning of longshoremen inside the vessel during baggage loading and off-loading.

 

``It is Carnival's normal practice and preference to have its own employees handle baggage once it is inside the vessel,'' according to the statement. ``Since the ILWU longshoremen opted not to perform their normal work responsibilities today, the cruise line had no choice but to use alternate resources for baggage handling so as not to disrupt the travel plans of thousands of guests.''

 

The cruise ship company also issued a statement in which it said the disagreement arose over the positioning of longshoremen inside the vessel during baggage loading and off-loading.

 

``It is Carnival's normal practice and preference to have its own employees handle baggage once it is inside the vessel,'' according to the statement. ``Since the ILWU longshoremen opted not to perform their normal work responsibilities today, the cruise line had no choice but to use alternate resources for baggage handling so as not to disrupt the travel plans of thousands of guests.''

 

This is the quote from the first article, and was so stated in the Anchorage newspaper. Nancy

[LHP]

I had to look at my refrigerator magnet to get the proper spelling as VSattui

They are in Napa Valley (not Sonoma ... my bad)

 

You are correct. The "issue" between Carnival and the Longshoremen was about union workers "inside" the vessel. Of course, Carnival said no way .... as they should have.

 

This is when the Union decided not to do any of the work...which left Carnival no choice but to use their own people....which gave the Union the media op that they wanted. So what if the union got it dishonestly.

 

It is plain to see that this was a union plant...how else would they have had time to get workers from San Francisco up there?