A federal judge is keeping Port of Baltimore workers on the job after an apparent strike attempt shut down one of the port's terminals Monday.
According to a complaint filed in Maryland district court by the Steamship Trade Association (STA) of Baltimore, mechanics and container handling equipment operators at the Seagrit Marine Terminal either walked off the job or never showed up, in defiance of the parties' no strike clause. The workers are represented by International Longshoremen's Association Local 333.
Judge Ellen Lipton Hollander agreed, granting a temporary restraining order against further strikes until 12 November.
"Notably, Local 333’s work stoppage imposes significant harm not only on STA, but on numerous businesses and the Port of Baltimore," Hollander wrote. "(The association's) counsel represented that 1,100 truckers did not receive their cargo today and 3,300 will not receive their cargo tomorrow (if I do not grant this motion)."
Local 333 did not immediately return calls for comment.
The STA's complaint alleged that this is not the first attempt at an illegal strike from the longshoremen.
In 2002, an arbitrator ordered Local 333 to "cease and desist" from illegal strikes, and a judge did so again in 2003.
In 2014, an arbitrator awarded the STA $3.9m in damages stemming from an illegal strike.
