Opinion

Labor remains strong in the Bay Area

Mike Barden, center, speaks with Demaurae Houston, left, and Steve Bender, right, after he voted at Loop Transportation on whether employees should unionize. Employees of Loop Transportation voted on Wednesday, November 19, 2014, to unionize and join Teamsters Local 853 at the company's headquarters in San Carlos, Calif. The employees are the first tech bus drivers to unionize, seeking better working conditions. less Mike Barden, center, speaks with Demaurae Houston, left, and Steve Bender, right, after he voted at Loop Transportation on whether employees should unionize. Employees of Loop Transportation voted on Wednesday, ... more Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez / The Chronicle Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez / The Chronicle Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Labor remains strong in the Bay Area 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Both the new and old economies are feeling labor pains. Facebook shuttle drivers are joining the Teamsters, while longshore workers, positioned at a choke point of global trade, are edging toward a possible strike.

While organized labor continues a downward slide nationally, its power remains in the Bay Area. Teachers, city workers and health care employees — union members all — play a major role in everyday life and ballot-box decisions. In the U.S. the percentage of union-represented jobs has dropped from 20 percent in 1983 to 11.3 percent in 2013. It’s a slip that’s hard to see around here.

The Facebook organizing effort keys on one of the city’s most controversial everyday sights: huge buses that ferry tech workers back and forth to Silicon Valley from San Francisco neighborhoods.

Drivers are fed up with the long days behind the wheel and time spent waiting between runs. By a 43-to- 28 margin, they voted to go with the Teamsters. A contract comes next, and possible organizing drives for other tech bus drivers among the dozen or more companies that offer shuttle service.

The divide between dockworkers and port officials is much more weighty, drawing in 20,000 jobs along the West Coast. In a show of strength, the longshore union shut down Bay Area work on Thursday, a “safety stand—down’’ keyed to the death of a Benicia waterfront worker who reportedly died on the job of natural causes, not a workplace injury. Other slowdowns have taken place in Los Angeles and Washington state ports.

The issues remain cloaked in closed-door talks. But the backdrop is evident. Bigger container ships are jamming ports with more goods, the Christmas surge is under way, and equipment shortages are creating problems. A resurgent economy is overwhelming the waterfront, making congestion in its many forms the central issue.

Too much business is an unusual problem to have, especially after the recent recession that shriveled the flow of imports. Both sides — longshore workers who operate essential cranes and shipping companies handling a booming trade — should find room for agreement.