Maersk announced last December that it was pulling its service to Charleston after the local chapter of the International Longshoreman’s Association voted against a proposal floated by the shipping line that would have moved its operations from a union section of the pier to one staffed by state ports authority personnel. The ILA maintained the move to the ports authority’s common-user gate would have been ruinous for union employees, and violated the longshoreman’s longstanding contract with the shipping line.
