Posts tagged Pacific Maritime Association
White House Urged to Intervene in West Coast Port Labor Talks
March 28, 2023 // A group of more than two hundred importers, exporters, logistics providers, and retailers urged the White House to intervene in West Coast port labor talks that have been underway since last May. In a letter March 24 to President Joe Biden, groups including the National Retail Federation, the American Trucking Associations, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, urged the administration to help speed the agreement on a new labor contract between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association, after the contract governing dockworkers from California to Washington State expired on July 1. “While we appreciate that the parties agreed not to engage in a strike or a lockout, we are aware of several instances of activities that have impacted terminal operations. We need the administration to ensure these activities do not continue or escalate,” the March 24 letter said.
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.
West Coast port dispute poses latest threat to supply chain
July 1, 2022 // The tenuous West Coast port contract negotiations, which began in May, have centered around wages, worker safety and automation. The union has pointed to ocean carriers’ record-smashing profits during the pandemic, while shippers have insisted that port workers enjoy competitive salaries that average six figures. The ILWU has pushed back on shipping companies’ push to automate port systems over the threat of job losses, while shippers claim that U.S. ports must be modernized to boost efficiency. Jess Dankert, Jay Timmons,
Already strained supply chain at risk in ongoing port labor talks
June 22, 2022 // Both Tirschwell and Larian point out that it wouldn't take a strike or a management lockout to slow or stop the flow of cargo. In the past, union members have slowed cargo simply by following strictly the terms of their existing contact, rather than trying to work most effectively. "Maybe they won't go on strike, but they can slow down everything," said Larian, the toymaker CEO. "A strike is very unlikely. A lockout is very unlikely," said Tirschwell. "But there's a definite possibility of an industrial action that disrupts the flow of cargo. That's what happened for six months in 2014 and 2015." Jim McKenna, Isaac Larian, Peter Tirschwell,
West Coast port union, employers say no plan for strike or lockout
June 16, 2022 // The news came just hours before the nation’s busiest ocean trade gateway in Los Angeles, which employs the lion’s share of West Coast port workers, reported near record imports for May. Import volumes at the Port of Los Angeles are easing from the levels seen during the throes of the pandemic, when home-bound shoppers binged on everything from exercise equipment to garden supplies. Still, they remain about 20% above normal Lisa Baertlein
What West Coast ports’ labor negotiations mean for your packages
May 27, 2022 // The employers’ right to automate their operations has become a prominent issue in the contract. The 2002 deal introduced new technologies such as scanners and character-recognition technology, while the 2008 pact explicitly authorized automation. Last year, Total Terminals International LLC announced its intention to fully automate its Long Beach operations, a project the ILWU strongly opposed. This would make it San Pedro Bay’s fourth terminal with some automation out of the port complex’s 14 hubs.