No sitting on this dock
Olympia port's cargo loaders see hours on the job leap
May 15, 2005
http://159.54.227.3/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050515/BUSINESS/505150386/1003

BY JIM SZYMANSKI

THE OLYMPIAN

OLYMPIA--A key way to measure the Port of Olympia's vitality is to count the number of hours 
dockworkers put into loading and unloading ship cargo.

Though their hours have increased the past four years, the hours boomed last year, showing 
a 77 percent increase, according to port records.

The trend of increasing hours and job opportunities is true at ports up and down the West Coast. 
At larger ports such Seattle, Tacoma and Los Angeles, dockworkers are trying to keep up 
primarily with Asian containerized imports, especially those from China.

In Olympia, the growing longshore job opportunities have more to do with an increase in so-called 
"break bulk" business, including aluminum, garnet, timber and Iraq War-related military shipments 
that returned to Olympia for the first time in 17 years last year.

"We only had a small window of time last year when there was no work," said Keith Bausch, 
president of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, Local 47. "All indications are
 that business continues to pick up."

Job prospects haven't always been so promising for the Olympia union.

Collapses in the Japanese and Russian economies made for some lean years for port cargo 
in the 1990s. The Japanese cut back on buying timber, and the Russian economy forced the 
shipping company Sunmar to leave Olympia in 1998 after making regular visits here for a year.

Port business in Olympia has been cyclical over the years.

Robert Rose, the union's business agent and dispatcher, recalled the busy late 1970s and 
1980s, when Olympia's timber business was healthy and bringing regular work for dockworkers.

Those healthy years then were balanced by weaknesses in the Japanese and Russian economies.

These days, dockworkers are enjoying a rebound. That's because last year the port reported 
its first positive income from operations in nine years. It made $825,061 in positive cash flow 
compared with losses in the prior years.

As port business has grown, so has the number of hours the longshore union works.

The 63,233 hours last year equaled a 77 percent increase over the 35,675 hours in 2003. 
Hours have steadily risen since the 11,170 logged at the port in 2000.

Though some Olympia residents have criticized the port for purchasing the loading cranes 
before Sunmar left, Rose said decisions to upgrade equipment are proving to be good 
long-term investments.

The cranes have been put to use in the military's return to Olympia, he said.

"It's because of the infrastructure improvements the port made in the Sunmar days," he said.

The Olympia local once peaked at 45 full-time members. It's down to 22, but Rose and 
Bausch foresee membership growing to 35 in the next two years.

Union members with full benefits may not be the only job category growing in numbers. 
So, too, are temporaries, or so-called "casuals," who don't receive benefits such as health 
care. These members come to the union from other jobs.

One such worker is Scott Gubbe. He and his wife own two espresso coffee stands, but 
competition has been taking away some of that business, he said.

To compensate, Gubbe has turned to temporary work with the Olympia longshore local.

"I worked here when Sunmar was here," said Gubbe, 42. "They were getting overflow work 
at the time and needed more workers."

Now that port business has been increasing, Gubbe has returned to build his longshore 
experience.

"It's hard work, but you can make in a few days what some guys make in a week," Gubbe 
said. "It has given me an opportunity for other money besides that from our other businesses."

Longshore pay ranges from $22 to about $35 an hour, depending upon experience and 
the job. A full-time employee can make a minimum of $60,000 a year, Bausch said.

The dockworkers are a marketing tool for the port, said John Wolfe, the executive director.

Larger ports in Puget Sound function on long-term contracts with shippers, Wolfe said. 
But the region's smaller ports compensate for a lack of long-term contracts with competitive 
customer service, which relies on the reliability of dockworkers, he said.

"Service is what we sell," Wolfe said.

The return of military shipments has much to do with the reliability of Local 47, Wolfe said.

"That's why the military is here," Wolfe said. "It's because of the service provided by the port."

As port business grows, Rose thinks his union will be a foundation for the region's economic 
development.

Because of port prosperity, some members have recently purchased cars at the Olympia 
Auto Mall, Rose said.

And when ships tie up at Olympia docks, downtown businesses benefit, he said.

"When the military's here, you can't get a room at the Phoenix Inn."

Jim Szymanski is business editor for The Olympian. He can be reached at 360-357-0748 
or jszymans@olympia.gannett.com.