Page 83 - Rukert - 100th Anniversary

PART II BRINGING THE WORLD TO BALTIMORE
in Southern and Gulf states where operating costs were lower, management hoped for a contract that would make Beacon Stevedoring more competitive and keep business in Baltimore. For the next year, Beacon Stevedoring and ILA Local 333 negotiated in good faith but failed to reach an agreement before the existing contract ran out on September 30, 1989.
On November 1, 1989, Beacon Stevedoring discharged the M/V Happy Valley, carrying
urea, without union labor. ILA Local 953 filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). In February of 1990, the NLRB declared that Beacon Stevedoring had exhibited a willingness to arrive at a mutually agreeable collective- bargaining agreement and presented a reasonable final offer to the ILA. By that point, the company had successfully discharged 15 more vessels with non-ILA employees.
The NLRB decision was a pivotal moment
in the history of Rukert Terminals and Beacon Stevedoring. Norm remembers that once vessels were discharged entirely by the company’s own personnel, “we began to see ourselves as totally self-sufficient, which changed the company from then on.” Self-sufficiency was a central tenet of Cap’s business approach. When Cap appeared on Helen Bentley’s television program, he told her, “I’m a decided disciple of private enterprise. I like to do things myself in my own way and by my own initiative. As such, when you get into a hole, you dig yourself out and you can accomplish far greater results than you can if you are dominated by a government or agency.”
The second phase of the “C” pier project started in 1990 when the Diver Brothers designed, and McLean Contracting Company constructed, two 170-foot heavy concrete ramps allowing vehi- cles to access the pier from South Clinton Street.
Eventually, after paving and adding electric and water service, “C” pier was put into use as a layberth for Military Sealift Command
and National Defense Reserve Fleet vessels on call for service in the event of a national emergency. Between layberth contracts, “C” pier was used
for stevedoring of general cargo.
Between 1980 and
1990, Rukert Terminals
bought a staggering
38.5 acres of property
along the Canton waterfront. The phrase “build it and they will come,” inspired by the 1989 movie Field of Dreams, became the rallying cry of the third generation and a way of life moving forward. Norm and Bud took the most solid of foundations and
the lessons learned from Cap and Norman Sr. to expand and improve every facet of Rukert Terminals. Rising revenues were constantly plowed back into
the company to build a bigger and more efficient terminal. In 1988, Rukert Terminals completed a new shed warehouse (Building #20) for bin storage of alloys. In 1990, Building #21 was completed and “J” building at Lazaretto was doubled in size. These new buildings added a combined 41,000 square feet of covered inside storage to the terminal. The same year, three new truck scales and a new 60,000-square-foot storage pad were also added.
With the future success of the company always in mind, management made certain that
ABOVE: M/V Happy Valley transiting the Welland Canal
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