Evergreen America Corp., agent for Evergreen Marine Corp., withdrew charges against the International Longshoreman's Assn. (ILA) that were pending before the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). No final agreements were reached, according to Evergreen, but negotiations led to a tentative understanding on a number of important issues and an agreement to continue meetings.
Evergreen's charges challenged the legality of a strike by Evergreen America port captains. The port captains had decided to join the ILA, but the company contends they are managers and, therefore, ineligible for representation by the union. Evergreen filed its challenge in the US Court of Appeals. The captains stuck, and longshoremen honored their work stoppage, halting all movement of Evergreen cargo at East Coast ports. More than a dozen ships and thousands of containers were affected by the strike.
The strike began in Port Elizabeth at Maher Terminals on May 14th. Within a week, it had spread to Norfolk, Baltimore and sporadically in Charleston, Savannah, and Port Everglades.
