-ggg--Tacoma port needs 550 dockworkers
By BRAD WONG
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
A surge in cargo from China has triggered a hiring spree at the Port of Tacoma, and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 23, which is responsible for dockworkers there, needs about 550 additional part-time people as early as May.
The search for workers follows record container numbers last year that moved through the ports of Seattle and Tacoma. Both facilities expect more goods this year as Asian countries, China in particular, continue to be global manufacturers and distribution companies operate out of the Puget Sound area.
"You've seen what's gone on up and down along the West Coast in recent months," said Conrad Spell, president of Tacoma-based Local 23. "Everybody has been starving for labor."
At the Port of Seattle, there also is an expectation that more dockworkers will be needed. The ILWU president for Local 19 in Seattle did not immediately return telephone calls yesterday for comment.
For the Tacoma jobs, applicants need to mail their names and contact information on a postcard by tonight.
A private company will draw about 800 cards late this month, Spell said, and people's names will be listed at www.ilwu.org and www.pmanet.org in April.
Those selected will go through training for up to three weeks and will be responsible for operating trucks, forklifts and securing containers.
Workers will be eligible for pay from $20.66 to $33.06 per hour, depending on the shift. Spell said the new longshore workers would receive assignments after full-time or more senior union members are assigned positions.
In the past year, he said, labor was so limited in Tacoma that some shippers were unable to find crane operators and drivers to complete jobs. He said the congestion has eased with about 170 new part-time workers who started late last year.
Spell was uncertain how many people would send application cards for this round of hiring. But late last year, when his union needed to fill 245 positions, more than 5,640 people mailed in cards.
HOW TO APPLY:
Send a 3 1/2-by-5 1/2-inch postcard
with your name, mailing address, telephone number and signature to:
Joint Port Labor Relations Committee -- Tacoma, Attn: 2005 Casual Process, Box 16, 520 Pike St., Seattle, WA 98101. Cards must be postmarked by tonight.
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