ILWU Seattle Workers & Boss Worked on Contaminated SSA Seattle Terminal

ILWU Seattle Dock Workers & Manager Worked on Contaminated SSA Seattle Terminal Until SSA Manager Ed Denight Turned Longshore Workers Around
Grand Princess Filipino Seafarer Dies In San Francisco From Covid-19
4/6/20 11:00 PM PST
By Steve Zeltzer
WorkWeek on San Francisco KPOO

After allowing ILWU Local 19 and ILWU Local 52 longshroe workers to work dayside at the SSA terminal in Seattle on 4/6/20 with a sick manager on the terminal, the CEO
of SSA Ed DeNike, turned longshore workers around on the nightshift shutting down operations. SSA may have been concerned that if longshore workers were contaminated
and died from the coronavirus SSA would be legally liable since they apparently were aware that their manager had been working with Corona symptoms for some time without informing the
longshore workers in the terminal.

The first ILWU-PMA arbitrator had ruled that the workers should continue working until the tests came back on whether the manager was infected with Covid-19.

Seattle union longshore workers have received no training and proper Personel Protective Equipment and there continues to be dirty and dangerous safety conditions for dock
workers only in Seattle but at the SSA terminals at the Port of Oakland.

ILWU Locals 10, 34 and 75 had a protest and press conference about health and safety conditions at the Port of Oakland on 3/20/20 . They demanded that SSA hire cleaners to make sure that the equipment was clean at SSA. They had a previous work action at port operator Tra Pak that had forced that company to hire cleaners.

ILWU Internatonal president Willie Adams while making a video that the ports are “open for Business” and supporting the PMA's effort to waive environmental regulations has made no public statement or demand that ILWU longshore workers be provided safe working conditions with the deadly threat of contamination from coronavirus.

There has also been no education and training of ILWU longshore workers on the proper health and safety practices on the docks on most west coast ports. Many operators continue to allow filthy conditions in the cabs and other work areas on the docks.

Longshore workers have been categorized as “essential workers” in California and are critical in keeping the global economy going.

This is now critical since the transfer of goods by shipping is critical to keeping the global transportation chain in operation. The outbreak of cornonavirus at the ports of the West Coast threatens
the shutdown of these terminals and ports which would have global implications and create serious problems in the United States.

ILWU Local 10 and ILWU Local 34 along with Filipino and Asian Indian community groups will be picketing the San Francisco Jimmy Herman passenger terminal pier 35 on 4/7/20 demanding that the crew of the Grand Princess be allowed to disembark and have proper healthcare and that longshore workers have health and safety protection and training to handle the cargo that will be coming off the ship.

Princess Filipino Seafarer Dies
2nd Electronic Officer Restituto “Jun” Umabi Jr. was taken off the Grand Princess ship which was docked next to the Hunters Point shipyard and died the past week at San Francisco General Hospital from Covid-19.

Although the more than 500 crew members from the Philippines, India, Ukraine and other countries are still being imprisoned on the petri dish ship they have not allowed them
to have any communication with the ITF which represents them. Princess Lines and the US Coast Guard are demanding that they stay on the ship off the coast of California for a 30 day quarantine which started on March 14, 2020.

Many countries are also refusing to repatriate seafarers who have been trapped on passenger ships around the world.
One hundred and twenty one Inidan crew members made an appeal while the Grand Princess was docked in Oakland begging the Indian Modi government to get them off the ship and repatriate them back to India.

The ILWU in the Bay Area and othe organizations including the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns have called on the evacuation of the crew and proper healthcare and testing while
in the US during the current pandemic.

Additional media
At Port of Oakland, ILWU Tells SSA We Want Health & Safety For COVID-19 To Protect Our Members & Community NOW!
https://youtu.be/88FyVUr8O00

Steve Zeltzer
WorkWeek
Labormedia1 [at] gmail.com
https://soundcloud.com/workweek-radio