Originally printed in the Journal of Commerce – February 13, 2015 Opinion, by Michael Pellegrini So the ILWU is solely responsible for the humongous mess our West Coast ports are in? It must be so because I read it in the Journal of Commerce. My first concern is that perhaps this blame is misplaced. To get at the truth, let’s look at the background. First off, a normal workweek for longshoremen consists of 147 hours spread over three shifts in seven days. An eight-hour day shift, an eight-hour night shift, and a five-hour graveyard or “hoot owl” shift. If you…