The International Longshoremen's Association ended a four-week strike against Evergreen America's East Coast operations Wednesday after Evergreen and the ILA agreed to negotiate on a contract for port captains while the company seeks a court determination of whether the workers are eligible to unionize.

The ILA withdrew its picket lines after union and company representatives agreed on terms under which contract bargaining would proceed. Evergreen dropped its request that the NLRB declare the ILA guilty of an illegal secondary boycott for picketing East Coast terminals used by Evergreen ships. The ILA said the union also agreed not to sue the union for damages from the strike, and to enter good-faith negotiations for a new contract.

Evergreen, meanwhile, said it would continue to pursue its court appeal of a National Labor Relations Board ruling that the port captains are eligible to unionize and that the company must bargain with the ILA. Evergreen contends that the workers are managers who are ineligible for unionization.

The ILA began picketing on May 14 at East Coast terminals handling Evergreen ships. The picketing was on behalf of four port captains and one port engineer who voted 3-2 for ILA representation. The refusal of longshoremen to cross the port captains' picket lines disrupted Evergreen cargo operations at Port Elizabeth, N.J.; Baltimore; Norfolk; Savannah; and Port Everglades, Fla. Other carriers' ships were not affected.

More than a dozen Evergreen ships were caught in the job action, and several thousand containers were delayed or diverted to ports in Canada, Jamaica or Panama. During the strike, Evergreen declared force majeure, freeing it from liability for unforeseen or unpredictable events such as strikes.

Evergreen is expected to spend several weeks straightening out its vessel rotations and working through other problems in delivering containers to customers.

By Joseph Bonney