ILWU, port community, gather to celebrate $110 million funding for future SoCal training center
Longshore workers play major role in starting center to train and upskill workers
On March 24th, ILWU members joined local and state elected officials, and leaders from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, as officials presented a $110 million ceremonial check reaffirming the state’s pledge to help fund a training facility devoted specifically to supply chain workers — the first of its kind in the United States.
The festive event was a testament to the hard work of local ILWU members, leaders and others in the port community who have worked for years to make this training center a reality. The gathering was held at the future site of the training center and attended by more than 50 people and the media.
The Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach Goods Movement Training Campus will provide a single and centralized location to attract, recruit, and retain workers in the goods movement sector. It is a partnership between the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the ILWU, the California Workforce Development Board, and the Pacific Maritime Association. The ports will equally split the balance of the project cost while working to secure additional funding for equipment and curriculum.
Training workers across the supply chain
The Goods Movement Training Campus will provide training for longshore workers, truck drivers, warehouse workers, and other essential supply chain workers. Local 13’s Mark Jurisic is among those who been working on bringing this training center to fruition for 15 years. He said that the program will encompass every aspect of longshore work, including training on every piece of equipment on the docks, and will include maintenance and repair training for that equipment.
“For example, there is going to be crane training for crane drivers,” Jurisic said. “But on the flip side, there it’s also going to double as a crane maintenance training program. That program doesn’t exist anywhere in this country, maybe even the world.”
“There are a number of skills that fall into being a well-rounded crane mechanic,” Jurisic said. “You have to know medium and high voltage; you have to know hydraulics; you have to be able to weld at height and do complex welding; you have to know elevators and fiber optics; you have to have computer skills. There’s a lot. I’m just scratching the surface here.” Jurisic added: “We are already working on the mechanic curriculum.
If a mechanic wants to learn a skill, they will be able to come through the training program. We’re going to build a program that addresses the needs of this industry so that we can train workers for the jobs that they’re going to be doing. That’s one of the goals for Local 13. We do not want to put people out there on the docks in harm’s way without proper training.”
20 acres with room to grow
The training facility will sit on 20 acres with an option to expand. It sits on land that is both within the City of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach. “I think this epitomizes what we have come to celebrate — not just the two ports coming together, but industry, labor, and our legislative leaders coming together to recognize how important this project we celebrate is,” said Dr. Noel Hacegaba, Deputy Executive Director at the Port of Long Beach.
“I was pleased to champion funding for this state-of-the-art training facility, which will be the first of its kind to serve current and future workers,” said State Assemblymember Mike Gipson, who spoke at the event. “This critical resource will support our workers and build a future generation of talent for our state’s economy. This is a game changer for our communities.”
Good jobs, green future
Ramon Ponce De Leon, then President of Local 13, spoke at the event. “We are humbled, thankful, and grateful to the governor, the state legislature, the ports of LA and Long Beach, and everybody involved,” he said. “It doesn’t happen unless you roll up your sleeves, and you do it, and you prove to the people that you’re concerned about jobs.”
Ponce De Leon emphasized that there must be equity between the goals of greening the ports and keeping and creating good-paying jobs for the community. “Jobs must be an equal part of the discussion when we talk about the environment and fighting climate change. There has to be a national strategy addressing both economic needs and environmental needs,” he said.
Long struggle for a good idea
Making the training center a reality took more than a good idea; it took more than a decade of hard work and persistence. Ponce De Leon recognized the work of Local 13’s Mark Jurisic in pressing for the training center for the past 15 years. “I want to thank Mark for rolling up his sleeves, because that’s what we do. We roll up our sleeves, we go to work, and we move this cargo.”
Noticing disturbing trends
It was shortly after Jurisic began doing work as a relief Business Agent at Local 13 when he first started noticing that something was wrong.
“There was a type of accident that seemed to repeat itself: A new casual coming straight out of training and within the first month or so, a large number of them that would have a similar accident: making a right or left turn with a bomb cart,” Jurisic said. “The severity of the accident would vary from very minor to serious property damage and injuries. I started thinking about it, and knew this was a behavior that can be corrected.”
Years later, Jurisic became Chairman of the Joint Accident Prevention Committee (JAPC). “I start thinking about the need for training, and I started being very vocal at the JAPC about training and the lack thereof.” He added, “There are accidents that are clearly preventable with just a minimum amount of training. As a union official, I can’t sit by and ignore this.”
Looking North to ILWU Canada
Nearly 10 years ago ILWU Canada opened a training center in conjunction with the British Columbia Maritime Employer’s Association (BCMEA), the equivalent of the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) on the U.S. West Coast.
“It’s a new concept on how to bring people into the industry now,” said ILWU Canada’s First Vice President Pat Bolen, who helped start the training program in Canada. “They’re not the old-school workers that grew up on the farm. I call them video-age people.”
Bolen said that the training center was started because the industry needs to prepare to meet the demands of this new workforce and the changing work structure on the docks. “It’s no longer a gang structure where you’re on the ground with other workers,” Bolen said. “A lot of the jobs now you are in a box by yourself, whether a truck, or a top lift, or a gantry crane. You have to be independent and knowledgeable of what’s going on around you.”
ILWU Canada’s training center is constantly learning, and expanding. “It’s a structure to build on and improve,” Bolen said. “It was the first one of its kind. It’s a good start to training workers before progressing them to the dock under supervision. That way, they aren’t completely awestruck when they hit the terminals.”
Shortly after the Canadian training center opened, Jurisic got word of it and asked then-Local 13 President Bobby Olvera, Jr., if he could go tour the facility.
“Bobby recognized it was a good opportunity,” said Jurisic, “and he sent me up to Canada. They took me on a tour and showed me the whole facility, and I got to see how it was run. It was an eye-opening experience. Upon my return, I started becoming even more vocal about the need for a training center. And that caught the ear of Dave Arian.”
Opening doors
Dave Arian, who passed away in 2019, was a past International President of the ILWU and a legendary figure on the waterfront. He was a Los Angeles Harbor Commissioner when he heard about Jurisic’s idea for a training center.
“Dave approached me and said that it’s a very good idea and something that the industry needed,’” Jurisic said. “and he was going to pursue the idea from his Harbor Commission seat.” Arian helped open doors. Jurisic was able to sit down and speak with Gene Seroka, Executive Director of the Port of Los Angeles, to talk about the many benefits a training center would provide.
Avin Sharma, Senior Director of Labor Relations and Government Affairs at the Port of Los Angeles, was one of several speakers at the funding celebration event who acknowledge Arian’s role in helping to make the Goods Movement Training Campus a reality.
Sharma said that Arian always spoke about the role the port authorities need to play in promoting, good-paying jobs in the community. “Dave said that back in his day, someone could finish up high school and go work in one of the metal shops here in the community because those shops were providing parts and components for the shipyards and the canneries,”
Sharma said. “He told me those days are gone, and it’s up to the port authorities to help our communities and provide for jobs. He told me that we need a training facility so people in our community can get the training they need for good well-paying jobs in the harbor. And that it would also support the industry by creating a pipeline of interested people. That conversation was six years ago. Not a day that goes by I don’t think about that.”
‘Not leaving until this is done’
Jurisic estimates that it will be four to six years from the time construction starts and the training campus opens. He is committed to seeing the project to fruition.
“Before I retire, I want to see this thing up and running,” Jurisic said. “We’re going to get this built; I’m not leaving until this is done.”
