Posts tagged ILWU
Labor’s Hidden Monopoly: Why the FTC Should Probe Union Power Too
April 1, 2025 // However, the modern economy calls for a fresh assessment of how we balance worker representation with the benefits of competition. Just as the FTC scrutinizes corporate mergers that could harm consumer welfare, it should consider the anticompetitive effects when a single union controls a significant share of an industry's workforce. Indeed, the FTC’s Bureau of Economics and Office of Policy Planning are both positioned to play a key role in researching labor markets to identify barriers to competition—including those created by government laws and regulations. By studying these dynamics, the FTC can publish research and spotlight how certain government-imposed rules or union protections may inadvertently stifle competition and harm workers.
Half a century later, ILA returns to strike mode
September 13, 2024 // The ILA is one of the least aggressive unions when it comes to coastwide strikes, especially relative to its militant West Coast counterpart: the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), which orchestrated stoppages and slowdowns just last year to attain its desired contract. In many respects, then, the ILA is riding the wave of labor’s recent successes that were achieved through hard-line tactics. In August 2023, the Teamsters celebrated the ratification of a new agreement with UPS. A few months later, the United Auto Workers secured large pay raises and other benefits for its members after a 46-day strike against Ford, Stellantis and General Motors.
Biden hails West Coast dockworker union contract as possibility of UAW strike looms
September 8, 2023 // "The contract finalized last week represented a prime example of Bidenomics at work, reflecting workers empowered and bargaining together for the wages, benefits, and quality of life they deserve, and company owners recognizing those unions' right to organize," a White House official said in a statement. Chronic worker slowdowns plagued the ports as negotiations lagged on, in some cases diverting shipments and leading to temporary port closures.
California: Offshore wind terminal to be built primarily with union hands
August 17, 2023 // Two of five commissioners (Aaron Newman and Craig Benson) noted their hesitation in voting due to the concerns of non-union construction workers but ultimately voted in support. Harbor district executive director Larry Oetker noted that this type of agreement is necessary — a recent executive order mandates any construction project over $35 million funded with federal dollars must include a labor agreement. The grant for phase 1 of the project involves the district requesting more than $300 million in federal dollars, according to an email from District Development Director Rob Holmlund. The agreement, which was negotiated largely by Jeff Hunerlach, from the Building and Construction Trades Council of Humboldt and Del Norte Counties and Chris Hannon, president of the State Building and Construction Trades Council of California, includes some provisions for non-union workers. It allows for any construction under the amount of $250,000 to be exempted from the agreement, according to a presentation from Oetker, who noted the benefits include no work stoppages in the process of construction. Union members said that labor agreements streamline the project by providing the skilled workers needed and to keep things on budget. Lynette Mullen, who said she was hired about three weeks ago by the Humboldt Builders' Exchange (an association of around 300 businesses in the construction industry) to get to the bottom of the labor agreement, said that the Exchange wants fair and equal opportunity toward the project and have more of a chance to weigh into agreements. She said people are frustrated they're being forced to join a union and pay into the union, adding that the Exchange understands the harbor district needs to do the agreement for federal funding. "This has been the saddest thing I've ever seen," she said. Environmental Protection Information Center, Missing and Murdered Indigenous People,
Powell’s Union Workers Say They Will Strike Sept. 4
August 15, 2023 // In a statement, Powell’s defended its offer as fair. “Powell’s proposal includes immediate wage increases for every employee in the bargaining unit and annual wage increases every year of the contract, making our wages competitive with the majority of retail wages in Portland,” the company said in an email. “In addition, we proposed reduced health care monthly premiums for the majority of employees, eliminating deductibles for the majority of doctors’ visits, and an enhanced 401(k) retirement plan match.” The company expressed optimism that it would reach a deal at the bargaining table. The union says that in a recent strike vote, 92% of workers voted to walk off the job. They last struck Powell’s in 2003 but now plan to hold a one-day “unfair labor practices strike” Sept. 4 before negotiations resume Sept. 4 and 6.
San Fran socialists killed historic Anchor Brewing, critics say
July 19, 2023 // But locals such as Greenberg told The Post that a cadre of Democratic Socialists of America drove the push to unionize Anchor’s modest 61-member workforce — in hopes of inspiring the masses to “take on the power of capital.” In 2020, the Anchor Union’s first contract kicked hourly pay up by as much as 28% — a substantial bump that exacerbated the company’s pandemic slump. “I’m very sympathetic to the workers, but there also has to be some reality,” Roth said. “And that’s the problem with socialism: in the real world, the economic and math tenets quite literally do not add up.”
West Coast dockworkers making $200K demand higher pay
June 12, 2023 // International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) dockworkers handle cargo across the West Coast, including at the major container gateways of Los Angeles, Long Beach and Oakland in California, and Seattle and Tacoma in Washington. The ILWU is demanding wages and benefits in the next five-year contract that reflect dockworkers’ role in the COVID-era import boom, a one-off event that ended last year. The prior contract expired July 1, 2022. The union cited the decrease in member wages and benefits as a share of the revenues of terminal employers and ocean carriers represented by the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA).
Ports of LA, Long Beach return to normal operations amid ongoing labor dispute
June 6, 2023 // "We aren't going to settle for an economic package that doesn't recognize the heroic efforts and personal sacrifices of the ILWU workforce that lifted the shipping industry to record profits,'' Adams said. Similarly, the ports effectively shut down for two days in April because of work shortages. But the union claimed it was the result of workers taking time off for religious holidays and for attending a union meeting.
Tensions rise in West Coast port labor battles, with unions and management trading accusations
September 30, 2022 // The Port of Los Angeles diverted 40,000 containers to the Port of Long Beach in August when dockworkers at the Port of LA refused to work at the automated section of APM Terminals, the largest container-handling facility citing safety concerns. APM is a part of A.P. Moeller-Maersk A/S and the automation part of the terminal has been operating since 2020. Workers did not work at that facility for nearly four weeks. That diversion of containers to Long Beach, in addition to the continued re-routing of containers to the East Coast, led to the Port of New York to take the No. 1 spot in processing import and export containers in August. Port of Los Angeles fell to third.
Westshore Terminals: Longshore and Warehouse Union Begins Strike
September 20, 2022 // Westshore Terminals Investment Corp. said members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 502 went on strike Saturday. "The work stoppage will result in a complete suspension of operations at the terminal," the British Columbia logistics company said Friday.