Strike possibility remains real as port sides differ. (Up Front).

Despite an agreement on crucial technology issues that had held up a new contract between port workers and shipping companies, the two sides remain far from reaching a final settlement.

Key issues such as pension benefits, arbitration procedures and workplace safety need to be ironed out, and the discussion of wages has yet to begin. According to officials of both the Pacific Maritime Association, which represents ship companies, and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, little progress has been made on any of the issues.

Although neither side will predict how long it will take to resolve these matters, or if a strike is still possible, they said much remains to be done when they return to the bargaining table on Nov. 13 after a one-week break ordered by a federal mediator.

"After the tentative settlement on technology was announced (Nov. 1), there was initial hope that all other matters could be resolved quickly," said a PMA source. "But it subsequently become apparent that resolution of all issues would take additional time."

"I don't have a crystal ball," said Steve Stallone, the union's communications manager, when asked when a final settlement might be reached. "We have put a proposal on the table. They need to respond."

The ILWU has agreed to the implementation of computerized container tracking and work assignment systems that handle tasks currently performed by maritime clerks. Although the technology will eliminate several hundred positions, the PMA has guaranteed those workers will be retrained for other dock assignments.

Both sides are negotiating under an 80-day cooling off period invoked by President Bush on Oct. 8. That ended the PMA's 10-day lockout of the ports that was taken in response to alleged work slowdowns by ILWU workers.

Federal mediator Peter Hurtgen granted the PMA's request for a weeklong hiatus in negotiations beginning Nov. 5 so ship companies could assess the impacts of a proposed pension package.

When negotiations began on May 13, the PMA offered a 12.5 percent increase in wages and pension over three years while the union countered with a demand of 57 percent.

Safety proposal

The union also is demanding workplace safety improvements in the wake of five dock-worker deaths so far this year. ILWU officials said little progress has been made.

"They have refused to come to an agreement on anything other than diesel emission reduction," said Stallone.

On the issue of arbitration, the only progress has been language in the technology agreement on how arbitrators would settle disputes concerning jurisdiction over the flow of information, which the union stresses it must have in order to survive.

Sources said the ILWU successfully negotiated for the creation of additional maritime clerk positions -- which oversee the flow of cargo information -- that previously had been handled by non-unionized workers out of state.

But that has not placated ILWU concerns regarding the PMA's demand to overhaul the entire arbitration system, which has been in place since 1948 and has become a major stumbling block in the negotiations, officials from both sides said.

Ship companies want to appoint the next coast arbitrator upon the eventual retirement of 94-year-old Sam Kagel -- the only person to ever hold the position. The coast arbitrator has the final say at all of the West Coast's 29 ports if arbitration by local and regional committees fails to resolve a workplace issue.

Under the old contract, which expired July 1, a joint committee of labor and management officials would make the choice to replace Kagel.

The PMA also wants the coast arbitrator to have the power to review new evidence in workplace technology disputes, weakening the power of local committees. Currently he can only review evidence already presented to the local and regional arbitration committees.

"Changing these two processes is a step toward bringing the arbitration process into the 21st century," the PMA source said. "(The union) wants to nominate ILWU people. We wouldn't have unbiased decisions."

On the surface, the PMA's proposal to change the selection process might not appear contentious because it wants Kagel's son John, a Palo Alto arbitrator specializing in labor management issues, for the post.

But to the union, which is trying to keep all port-related work under its jurisdiction, it's an effort to swing dispute resolution toward the side of employers.

"It's something that's not going to change," said Richard Mead, president of the union's longshore Local 10 in San Francisco and a member of the ILWU's caucus. "We're not going to give up our grievance procedure to suit the employers. The PMA doesn't want arbitrators to come from the industry. They want hired guns who will do what (employers) want."

The arbitration system takes care of disputes that arise over safety conditions, job terminations, outsourcing jobs to non-union employees and drug testing. The implementation of technology is expected to generate a new round of issues that the coast arbitrator will be forced to confront.