Published: 7 Nov 2010
Yet another waterside worker dies on the worlds docks.
ILWU brother Bert Tufele, 55 years of age, died tragically on the Long Beach wharves, California, USA after two trucks collided inside a marine terminal on Pier A.
The local Contra Costa Times report the force of the collision "caused the the victim to be ejected from his vehicle and under the rear wheels" of his own rig, where he suffered fatal injuries, according to Long Beach police Detective Sirilo Garcia.
Tufele was pronounced dead at the scene.
The California Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the accident, which forced the terminal to shut for the day.
Tufele is the fourth man killed in the past three years at the port.
Truck driver Pablo Antonio Garcia, 37, was fatally crushed by a forklift steered into his truck in January 2009, also at Pier A, Longbeach and in September 2009 a tractor struck and killed dockworker John Kiser, 53, at the Evergreen facility on Terminal Island in San Pedro.
In April 2008, longshore worker Carlos Rivera, a beloved 40-year veteran of local ports, was killed when he was struck by a forklift driverl on Pier D in Long Beach.
The latest US tragedy follows three deaths on the Australian waterfront this year.
President of the International Transport Workers' Federation and chair of the ITF dockers section Paddy Crumlin joins Al Le Monnier, ILWU Canada in expressing his condolences to the family of brother Tufele, ILWU Local 13 and ILWU International President Bob McEllrath, while calling for tighter safety regulations in the industry worldwide.
