Page 38 - Port of Baltimore Magazine May/June 2011

[38] The Port of Baltimore ■ May/June 2011 To subscribe or renew, visitwww.marylandports.com
PORTperson
John Leichling’s family has been “on the
waterfront” for years. Following in the path
of his granddad, dad and brother, Leichling
started working at the Port of Baltimore at the age of 19.
“I’ve done everything but drive a crane,” said
Leichling, now 36 and President of International
Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) Local 1429.
“I’ve worked in every Local at every status.” Even
Leichling’s wife, Tina, is a member of Local 1429,
where she does welding and other jobs. She is the
only female member.
Leichling was formerly Vice President of Local
1429, but became President after Paul Kursch retired
in February.
“My brother Greg [now Vice President of the Local]
is the one who got me down here [at 1429],” Leichling
said. “My dad was in 333.”
Leichling started out as a container repairman,
but, after a dozen years, “I wanted to use my seniority
out of the hall in general labor, where I was dispatched
day to day,” he said.
In his current position as President of Local 1429,
he does the collective bargaining for the union; he
negotiates contracts with each employer at the Port of
Baltimore, such as Ports America, Mid-Atlantic, Ceres,
BalTerm and “every deep-sea employer here”; and he
also deals with any problems that crop up.
According to Michael Angelos, President of the
BY MERRILL WITTY | Photography By Kathy Bergren Smith
JOHN LEICHLING
ILA Local 1429 is Like Family for New President
333: stevedoring and
cargo repair
953: steamship clerks,
weighers, billing clerks and
timekeepers
1429 : maintenance, repair and
janitorial services; pier cleanup
2066: industrial and
miscellaneous workers and
handlers of steel, breakbulk
and bulk cargoes
*When John Leichling first came to
work at the Port, there were other
Locals. “There was a grain local,” he
said, “but there are no grain elevators
around here any more.” There was
also a carpenter’s local, but remaining
members have been absorbed by 953.
Port-Related
LOCALS *