CHARLESTON, S.C. — A federal judge signed a temporary restraining order to get longshoremen at two South Carolina port terminals back on the job following a brief walk-out.
U.S. District Judge David Norton signed the order Thursday ending a nine-hour walkout by workers at South Carolina State Ports Authority terminals in Mount Pleasant and North Charleston.
Ken Riley of the International Longshoremen’s Association Local 1422 said the walk-out occurred after members of ILA Local 1771 Clerks and Checkers were fired for not agreeing to expanded duties outside their contract.
Riley says the workers were told about the new duties Wednesday and declined to accept them Thursday. The workers are in charge of directing trucks in and out of the port terminals.
The South Carolina Stevedore Association sought the restraining order saying the actions by the ILA workers were “causing irreparable damage.” The association organizes and supervises the work done by longshoremen.
Riley said members of the Local 1422, which load and unload the shipping vessels, walked off the job as a sign of solidarity. “We work in tandem with clerical,” he said. “If they’re not working, we are not working, either.”
One container ship was at the Wando Welch Terminal in Mount Pleasant and two were at the North Charleston Terminal on Thursday said Allison Skipper, a spokeswoman for the Ports Authority.
She said there was no effect on trucks moving through the port gates.
Some cargo already on the docks is handled by Ports Authority workers who are not longshoremen.
