By JENALIA MORENO

Herald Staff Writer

#After four months of negotiations, the three International Longshoremen's

Association locals at the Port of Brownsville signed a contract with the

port's two unionized stevedoring companies.

According to the new wage, benefits and working conditions agreement, the

longshoremen will earn between $8 and $9.75 an hour, a decrease from $12.50 an

hour.

"It's a blow to the whole community," long-time ILA member Harry Noble said.

"It's just unbelievable we have to lower our wages."

The agreement was signed by Dix Shipping Co. and Schaefer Stevedoring Inc. and

the three locals; deep sea workers of Local 29, warehouse workers of Local

1395 and clerks and checkers of Local 1544.

The decision was signed after an intense week of negotiations and will go into

effect on Tuesday for one year. The current contract, which was originally

supposed to cover three years and was extended for another two years, expires

Monday.

The stevedoring companies "had to become more competitive -- not only within

the port, but with other ports," Dix Shipping Co. President Bob Ostos said.

The agreement "will better enable the Port of Brownsville to solicit more

cargo from northern Mexico."

Ostos called the agreement a partnership between labor and management and said

there was give and take on both sides.

ILA members blame the former board of the Brownsville Navigation District for

the wage decrease. ILA President David Elizondo and Noble said that since the

board allowed the non-union Gulf Stream Marine of Brownsville Inc. to operate

at the port, average wages have decreased from $16.50 an hour.

In previous years, the ILA negotiated with the stevedoring companies, Elizondo

said. Now that there is competition at the port, they don't have the option to

negotiate or to strike.

"It really wasn't their fault or our fault," Elizondo said of the agreement

between the ILA and the companies. "It was accepted with a very sad vote. We

have no other choice at this particular time."

Longshoremen work only when cargo is available, Elizondo said, so many workers

will earn less than $10,000 per year. He said last year 75 percent of the ILA

members needed some form of government assistance.

Elizondo said ILA members want to work with the non-union stevedoring

longshoremen.

"We need to stop the race to the bottom to see who gets to minimum wage

first," Elizondo said.