Sea-Land Service, Inc. v. International Longshoremen's & Warehousemen's Union, Locals 13, 63, & 94

Having won a battle before the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”), Sea-Land Service, Inc. (“Sea-Land”) seeks to broaden the reach of its victory in its war with the International Longshoremen’s and Warehousemen’s Union (“ILWU” or “Union”).

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A review of related prior skirmishes between Sea-Land and the ILWU is necessary to understand the present controversy.

Sea-Land transports containerized cargo worldwide, operating its own fleet of specially designed containerships and ground transportation equipment. Sea-Land’s Pacific Division operates on the west coast of the United States, including the port of Long Beach, California.

Prior to 1980, Sea-Land maintained two sites in Long Beach for the handling of shipping containers, a thirty-seven acre fenced marine terminal on the waterfront (“container yard”) and a fifteen acre container freight station located about two miles inland. The Container Stevedoring Corporation, a second-tier subsidiary of Sea-Land, is under contract with Sea-Land to supply marine yard workers at the dockside container yard. Container Stevedor-ing’s employees are represented by the ILWU. The Teamsters represent Sea-Land’s container freight station…