About 31 warehouse workers at the Packer Avenue Marine Terminal in South Philadelphia could lose their jobs in a dispute between two labor unions over who gets to staff a new, taxpayer-funded refrigerated warehouse a mile from the terminal.
Members of International Longshoremen’s Association Local 1291 voted unanimously Monday at a meeting in Port Richmond to authorize a potential strike “if and when necessary,” a move that would still require approval from their parent organization. The workers say a deal to staff the new facility with Teamsters members would wipe out decades of seniority and the wages and benefits that come with it.
$85 million in state funds, $81 million from Holt
The Philadelphia Regional Port Authority, the state agency that owns the city’s seaport facilities, allocated $85 million in state funds to build the new 165,500-square-foot warehouse near the Packer Avenue terminal. Holt Logistics Corp., the Gloucester City-based company that operates the facility, invested $81 million.
The existing refrigerated warehouse on the terminal is expected to be razed to make room for more shipping container storage as part of a broader port development plan. Holt says it has a deal to staff the new building with workers represented by Teamsters Local 929, and that traditional longshore work remains available to the ILA members at Packer Avenue…