Traffic was heavier than usual at the start of the workweek as shippers tried to catch up after Friday's unexpected walkout by dockworkers at the N.J. and N.Y. ports, but no one is saying what sparked the unexpected job action. Watch video
NEWARK--Who closed down the port?
Apparently, no one is saying.
The Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor--which serves as a watchdog to keep out organized crime and oversees waterfront hiring--said it has been interviewing dockworkers who staged a walkout without warning on Friday, but found it was not about contract issues or money.
"What we found was pretty much what the media found. Most did not know why they walked out," said Walter Arsenault, the commission's executive director. "They were obviously told to walk out."
Union officials say they had nothing to do with the walkout, but again referenced growing anger by their members at what they called "harassment" by the waterfront commission.
"We were very clear that the international did not know anything about it, and we didn't," said James McNamara, a spokesman for the International Longshoremen's Association.
McNamara, though, said many members feel the commission has increasingly overstepped its bounds, interfering with hiring and making it difficult to work.
"They hold the power over the individual," he said. "You have to have the pass to work."
Created by the states of New York and New Jersey through a 1953 compact, the waterfront commission was born out of public hearings sparked by a newspaper expose into pervasive corruption throughout the port involving mobsters and dockworkers, later portrayed in the film "On the Waterfront."
The commission, which has its own police department, licenses workers, conducts background checks, and retains vast oversight responsibilities for those who work and do business in the port--all funded by assessments on employers. Without a license--what workers call the pass--those seeking employment within the port cannot be hired or stay on the job.
But both the union and the terminal operators who hire them have sharply criticized the commission in recent years. The ILA and the region's main employer group, the New York Shipping Association, filed suit in 2013, accusing the agency of holding up hiring and threatening a labor shortage. They charged that the commission had overstepped its bounds by imposing stricter hiring rules on potential hires.
A federal judge later dismissed the case, ruling that commission was "well within its statutory authority" to require shipping companies and other employers to certify that potential hires had been referred based on non-discriminatory practices under state and federal law. The case is now on appeal.
Last year, the New Jersey Legislature voted to pull the state out of the commission. Gov. Chris Christie vetoed the measure.
State Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Union), who sponsored the legislation, said the waterfront commission has outlived its usefulness.
"At the time it was created, there were 50,000 longshoremen. Now there are 5,000," he said. "Their interference is hurting commerce. Its jurisdiction within the port has played a role in companies making decision on what port to go to. It's a commission trying desperately to justify its own existence."
The commission itself came under scathing review in 2009, when the New York Inspector General issued a report finding it riddled with abuse--misusing federal Homeland Security funding, hiring unqualified cops, and allowing convicted felons to get jobs. Since then, there has been sweeping personnel changes.
Arsenault, who was brought in to make some of those changes, said the union is upset because the agency is now doing its job.
"The commission didn't do anything for years and years," he said.
One of the issues raised by the union, he said, is the commission's random testing for drugs--a problem he said was recently underscored when a longshoreman driving a toploader, used to move shipping containers, struck and killed a female co-worker while he was allegedly under the influence.
Back on the job
Meanwhile, it was business as usual Monday after Friday's day-long shutdown at the port, which includes Port Newark, the Elizabeth-Port Authority Marine Terminal, the Howland Hook Marine Terminal, the Brooklyn-Port Authority Marine Terminal, the Red Hook Container Terminal, and the Port Jersey Port Authority Marine Terminal.
"There was very heavy truck traffic, but that was anticipated given there were only two full work days last week," said Steve Coleman, a spokesman for the Port Authority, which serves as the landlord for the port.
Part of the catch-up was due to the weather. Last Monday and Tuesday, the port terminals had been closed because of last week's blizzard, and then shut down on Friday by the walkout.
The New York Shipping Association, which represents terminal operators, ocean carriers, and stevedores, said there were no problems at the start of the workweek.
"Things are busy--which is quite normal for a Monday," said Beverly Fedorko, a NYSA spokeswoman.
Ted Sherman may be reached at tsherman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TedShermanSL. Find NJ.com on Facebook.