PMA & ILWU Met About Contract Extension

Tuesday (November 1st, 2016), the Pacific Maritime Affiliation (PMA) and Worldwide Longshore & Warehouse Union (ILWU) met to debate a contract extension. Nicely, they met to debate the “idea” of a contract extension.

That the 2 events met in any respect on the opportunity of extending the contract between the ILWU and their employers on the West Coast ports is a small miracle.

The present contract doesn’t expire till July 1st, 2019, and whereas that will appear far off, it’s all too shut for shippers.

Contract negotiations between the ILWU and PMA are usually very contentious issues. The final contract negotiations really appeared to be going easily however turned out to be something however when the ILWU orchestrated slowdowns and the PMA retaliated with mini-lockouts.

With the ports already coping with congestion on the time, the contentious contract negotiations made issues so dangerous at West Coast ports that importers weren’t capable of get their items in time for the vacation season, agricultural exporters watched as their produce rotted on the docks, and lots of American enterprise partnerships overseas had been misplaced.

What’s unhappy is that contentious contract negotiations holding the docks and shippers’ good as ransom is frequent observe in terms of renewing contracts between the dockworkers and their employers on the ports.

It has been the coverage of the dockworkers unions, each on the West and East Coasts, to not renew or lengthen contracts earlier than the earlier one expires. To take action would take away the most important weapons for creating leverage in negotiations that dockworkers have: slowdowns and strikes.

Sadly, this has led to shippers and all the U.S. financial system struggling at any time when the tip of a contract between the PMA and ILWU is reached.

The earlier contract negotiations started early-ish. Contract talks started Might twelfth, 2014, a bit greater than a month and a half earlier than the contract at the moment would expire on July 1st, 2014. For many of us, a month and a half looks as if loads of time to barter a contract, but it surely was not almost sufficient time for the ILWU and PMA to return to phrases on a brand new contract or extension and go in opposition to the historical past of labor unions on the docks ensuring the earlier contract expires to realize leverage.

It took a bit greater than a 12 months from the beginning of contract negotiations on the present contract to the ILWU’s ratification of it on Might twenty second, 2015. With that sort of timeline, shippers, retailers, and everybody concerned within the provide chain have urged the PMA and ILWU to start the subsequent set of negotiations early. Actually early. Not only a month and a half earlier than the contract is to run out.

After the labor strife precipitated West Coast ports to lose market share and main carriers to cease calling on the Port of Portland with container ships altogether, shippers got their first glimmer of hope that the tradition of contract negotiations between dockworkers and employers on the ports could be about to alter.

In March of 2015, reviews hit that the US Maritime Alliance (USMX) and Worldwide Longshoremen’s Affiliation (ILA) had been planning to “open discussions” on a brand new, long-term contract at East and Gulf Coast ports over three years earlier than the present labor contract expires there. It was precisely the kind of factor shippers had been wanting to listen to after dropping religion in West Coast ports over the losses they suffered due to labor strife. This information was additionally not far faraway from a deliberate strike that threatened to shutdown East and Gulf Coast ports over the last set of contract negotiations there.

Sadly, the discuss of early contract talks between the ILA and USMX might need been simply that–discuss–solely to extend the market share the East and Gulf Coast was pulling from the West Coast.

Based on a Journal of Commerce article from just some months in the past (almost a 12 months and a half after the USMX and ILA mentioned they had been planning to open contract discussions), the ILA “is unwilling to open negotiations on a brand new or prolonged contract till disputes over the present settlement are resolved…” The article quotes ILA’s govt vice chairman as saying a brand new contract “is certainly not in sight.”

With conferences really in sight between the PMA and ILWU, shippers have a extra legit hope of a contract being prolonged earlier than expiration. Whereas shippers, retailers, and the remainder of the availability chain are applauding the dockworkers union and their West Coast employers for assembly about an early extension and inspiring the events to proceed, expectations have to be tempered in gentle of historical past.

The PMA and ILWU aren’t giving a lot perception on their assembly and won’t touch upon it. Nonetheless, it a minimum of went effectively sufficient that one other assembly on the subject is deliberate, although with out an precise date.

Right here’s the joint press launch from the PMA and ILWU on assembly in regards to the idea of a contract extension:

The Pacific Maritime Affiliation (PMA) and Worldwide Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) met on November 1st in San Francisco the place discussions had been held on the idea of a contract extension.

Each events agreed to renew talks at a future date to be mutually agreed upon.
The present collective bargaining settlement protecting 29 west coast ports expires on July 1, 2019.

No extra feedback from both social gathering shall be made previous to the subsequent assembly dates.