TOWBOAT PILOTS REMAIN ON STRIKE

Pilots Agree's strike against almost 100 barge companies entered its 56th day today with more than half of the union's 1,200 members off their jobs.

"We can't give an exact number of pilots on strike," Fred Hunter, secretary-treasurer of the river towboat pilots' union, said from his Columbia office. "It changes from day to day. We gain some and we lose some, so the overall count hasn't changed that much."

The strike went into effect at midnight April 3 when many members of the newly formed Pilots Agree union notified barge companies and Corps of Engineers representatives that they were striking.

Pilots Agree President Dickey Mathes of Lake Village, Ark., said the union hopes to gain better wages and working conditions with the strike.

There is no noticeable slowdown of barge traffic along the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. There have been some varying reports on results of the strike.

"It's business as usual," said Karen Coltrane, public affairs director for the American Waterways Operators in Arlington, Va. The group keeps tabs on barge traffic in the U.S.

With more than 3,500 boats and 11,000 licensed pilots, the effects of the strike are minimal, said Coltrane.

Pilots Agree officials disagree, claiming the strike is having some economic effects on various companies..

"Profits the past two months have dipped for some companies," said Hunter. "The companies blame this on the weather and reduced shipping rates, but they keep sending pilots letters asking them to come back to work."

Almost 100 barge companies have refused to recognize or negotiate with Pilots Agree.

"The strike may not seem to have had much effect so far, but it really has," said Mathes.

Barges are still moving past Cape Girardeau on the Mississippi River and Cairo, Ill., at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi. A local barge company spokesman said his company was not on the Pilots Agree negotiation list.

The American River Transportation Co., the river transportation subsidiary of Archer Daniels Midland, apparently is the most severely affected by the work stoppage, said Hunter.

"ARTCO recently sent its pilots letters arguing against Pilots Agree demands, claiming that being represented by a union did not guarantee them anything," said Hunter. But Hunter said ARTCO is paying bonuses and overtime pay to "entice pilots back to the boats."

Hunter also sent a rebuttal letter to the barge company and the National Labor Relations Board claiming that "without a union pilots had no representation."

ARTCO officials declined any comment on the strike.

Pilots Agree has filed more than 35 unfair labor practice charges against barge companies in Missouri, Alabama and Tennessee, charging the companies with "cruel and vicious violations of fundamental rights of towboat workers to organize."

"The NLRB has issued a couple of rulings in our favor," said Hunter. "The rulings came against one company in Mississippi and one in Kentucky," he said.

Pilots Agree has a strike fund, something the union did not have when it called for the original strike.

"A number of unions has donated to the strike fund," said Hunter. "Although we still can't offer strike pay, we utilize the funds on a case-by-case basis."

Federal maritime laws regulate pilots and their work hours. A pilot is limited to 12 hours of operations per day. Then they have to park the tow for 12 hours. With two pilots, the tow can operate 24 hours a day.