Labor update: West Coast dockworkers say labor agreement is near

Patrick Burnson, Executive Editor -- Logistics Management, 7/24/2008

SAN FRANCISCO—The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) said in an interview with LM that a new contract agreement with the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) is “within sight.”

 According to ILWU spokesman, Craig Merrilees, “talks are progressing beyond differences and toward a mutual understanding.”

 “As usual,” he said, “management wants to talk about productivity, and labor wants to make sure safety standards are being put in place. That’s one of the main issues.”

 He added that the union is sympathetic to the plight of shippers who may have been pressured to change shipping and sourcing strategies.

 “They (the shipper) are the ones caught in the middle.”

 John A. Leitner, president of  W.J. Byrnes & Co., a major freight forwarder and Customs broker, agrees:

 “Even before the labor talks, we were having trouble with carriers fulfilling their booking orders,” he said. “So now this has made the situation even more unpredictable.”

 He said that shippers in the Midwest have already begun to bypass the West Coast in favor of East Coast and Gulf load centers.

 “But Pacific Rim shippers still want to use these ports,” he said. “And it’s frustrating, because we have the cargo…and it’s time to sell.”

 The new contract being negotiated and administered by PMA covers wages, benefits and conditions of employment for the more than 26,000 ILWU members and identified casuals working at 29 West Coast ports in California, Oregon and Washington. The previous contract expired on July 1, 2008.

 Meanwhile, the PMA has been sustaining a public campaign by repeatedly stating that West Coast ports generate almost $1.3 trillion in domestic business impacts – representing 11 percent of total U.S. gross domestic product – and suppo rt more than 8 million direct and indirect U.S. jobs.

 “The ILWU’s actions jeopardize an already fragile economy that can ill afford another hit,” said the PMA in a statement.