The union is a symbol of brotherhood which solidifies men maintaining their masculinity. Men also have a history of gendering more technical and higher skilled positions as a masculine characteristic as a means to supress women’s success in trade unions (Alimohamed-Wilson 129). Although the numbers of women on the waterfront are growing slowly, these are the numbers of women who are willing to tolerate a toxicly masculine workplace and put up with wage gaps, discrimination, and harassment to open the door for more women to enter this workforce.
In 2018, the United States recorded the number of workers found in this job industry was 2,953,800 and within California alone, the number stands at 382,280 (United States. Bureau of Labor Statistics).
In the U.S., 81.9% of laborers and material movers are men and 18.1% are women (United States. Bureau of Labor Statistics). In numerical terms, there are 257,615 full time female longshore workers and 1,439,725 male longshore workers (U.S Department of Labor. Womens Bureau).
In 2017, nearly half of San Diego’s port workers were women and two of the five presidents were women according to Randa Coniglio, first female Cheif Executive of the Port of San Diego (Maclyntyre).
Maternity Leave
Family and Medical Leave Act: Put into practice on February 5, 1994 for employees working under the terms of the PCL&CA. The FMLA requires that employees requesting leave under the terms of this Act shall have a worked a minimum of 1,250 hours in the previous twelve (12) months and must have been employed a minimum of twelve (12) months. Individuals requesting leave, as defined by the FMLA, shall notify the Joint Port Labor Relations Committee (JPLRC) at least thirty (30) days in advance of leave when the necessity for the leave is foreseeable (ILWU.org).
This makes it very difficult for women working to become union members due to the already precarious work schedules they work on, they also lose their seniority status if they go on maternity leave.
"When I was pregnant, I was still a casual so I was not technically a union member. I was working to become a union member so I worked up until eight months [into pregnancy]. Being that I’m so small, I didn’t really show I was pregnant until seven months. Seven months, all of a sudden I turn around and people are like, “Oh my gosh, I didn't even know you were pregnant”, and I was like “uh yeah, going on 8 months here” and definitely didn’t get the best comments".
Gender discrimination
The average median wage for longshoreworkers is $171,110. According to shipping industry data, “About half of West Coast union longshoremen make more than $100,000”. More than half of foremen and messengers earn more than $200,000 each year and some bosses earn more than $300,000 a year. Longshore workers receive overtime pay and bonuses for specific skills and night shifts (Kirkham and Khouri). Longshore workers skill wages are divided by three categories; skill I, skill II, and skill lll. Skill bonuses are based on applying the appropriate skill percentage to their base wage. A part of the longshore workers are clerks and Foremen. Foremen earning the highest pay at an average hourly rate of $77.12 (PMA-Annual Report 2018 63).
"I’m not saying that I’m a masculine woman, but I definitely, I’m a very strong woman. When it comes to physically being strong and mentally being strong, you definitely have to have both. You can’t be a weak person to be down here. I mean, cause you will be called out, whether a man or another woman calls you out. But then it will just look like, “Oh this woman doesn’t like me because of whatever”. But if a man calls you out then it’s like, “oh you just don’t like me because I’m a woman”. But you know, you gotta be a worker. You can’t just be like, “oh, I’m just going to move a couple of containers and that’s it”. No, you got a whole eight hours to fulfill. That’s a whole eight hours that you have to prove".
"I’ve been in the union for two years and I’m not a bad looking chick and like I said I’ve been down here since I was 18 years old so I’ve definitely experienced harassment. However, I cannot say that I have reported everything. I think with the intimidation of the job, you kind of just stuff it down or try to joke about it. That’s personally me, I’m not speaking for everyone else. I really don't know of any woman who has actually filed a report. They call it, in our book, a 13.2. That’s the code for sexual harassment. And um, I know I definitely experienced a lot of it... I don't think there has ever been a situation where I've had to take it [harassment report] that far. I might have been, but growing up around there I’ve learned to either just handle it or shut up and forget about it kind of thing. I know that kind of sounds bad and is definitely not something we want to teach our children, but our children aren’t working here. If I had a daughter working down here, and she has dealt with some of the comments I’ve heard, I’m not sure what some of my responses would be. I’m a mother to a son, so it’s a little bit different in my responses. If I had a daughter, I’m not really sure how I’d respond. I don’t know what I would do. I don't know if I would tell my daughter, "you know, you gotta take it up with someone else", and maybe being 2020 I will steer my daughter in the right direction and be like, “Hey, you have your rights, you need to stand your ground, if that person continues to do this to multiple women, not only you then yeah, you need to get him in trouble by telling on him”. But I don't know, there is so much growth that I have come through with this job, I know what to expect and I know how to sort of act around these men, I know how to show up to the job with my clothing, my attitude, my personality, everything".
While there is a lottery process that works in complete randomness, with the current data that shows only 18.1% of U.S. dockworkers are women, this tells us there is already a low amount of women entering the lottery. In addition the opportunity for mobility is difficult, especially for women in the industry. Even getting into the industry is a very long and precarious process. There are multiple ways of becoming a longshore worker. There is the lottery system that ports will use if they are in high demand of needing workers. For instance, when a generation of workers retire they may put out a lottery announcement but chances of being drawn are slim. In 2017, the Los Angeles-Long Beach port announced a lottery, 80 thousand people applied and only 25 thousand were chosen. In the lottery before that a quarter of a million applied and three thousand were accepted (Uranga). Putting that number in the larger labor force perspective, that is 1.2% acceptance. Once an individual is drawn they are given a casual card, they work part time and even being a casual is precarious. Many casuals work years to accumulate enough hours to become a longshoreworker with benefits. If the ILWU-PMA were to change policies that make it harder for women to achieve upward mobility, such as FMLA, rules of seniority, harassment, and discrimination this job would be more appealing to women.
There needs to be an increase in women representation within the Union, not only in membership, but on the National ILWU Executive level. Currently, there are 22 members on the Executive board, of the 22, 4 are women. This is not enough. This stems from the lack of women on the dock who are on the union level, that's not including casuals (part time). The ILWU needs to take measures to recruit and increase female membership in high school apprenticeship programs and give women an equal opportunity for mobility.
The lack of upward mobility for women stems from the lack of benefits casuals receive. Casuals must earn a certain amount of hours to join the union which can take up to 10-20 years for some. Their precarious schedules can result in from receiving work regularly to getting a job once a month. This causes many women to take as little time off on their parental leave out of fear of losing their seniority status. The dock is not a safe place for a pregnant woman to work, having to lift heavy objects and perform other duties that can put strain on the pregnant body resulting in miscarriages or health problems. If casuals could receive some of the benefits members do, women could take the time needed and not have to worry about losing their status.
The rules of seniority work in the favor of a person leaving their position to join the armed forces.
Work Cited
ALIMAHOMED-WILSON, JAKE. SOLIDARITY FOREVER?: Race, Gender, and Unionism in the Ports of Southern California. LEXINGTON BOOKS, 2019.
“Hand Laborers and Material Movers : Occupational Outlook Handbook.” U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 4 Sept. 2019, www.bls.gov/ooh/transportation-and-material-moving/hand-laborers-and-material-movers.htm.
Maclntyre, Dave. “Port Strategy: The Gender Divide.” Port Strategy. Insight for Marine Technology Professionals, 3 June 2017, www.portstrategy.com/news101/administration/Personnel/gender-diversity-feature2.
Uranga, Rachel. “Longshoreman Lottery Results Announced for Long Beach, LA Ports: Find out If You’Re on the List.” The Daily Breeze, 6 Sept. 2017, https://www.dailybreeze.com/2017/06/02/longshoreman-lottery-results-announced-for-long-beach-la-ports-find-out-if-youre-on-the-list/.