Tentative Agreement Reached on New Longshore Labor Contract
There’s good news on the waterfront.
After a little more than four months of negotiations, longshore workers and their employers reached a tentative agreement on July 28 on a new six-year contract.
The Pacific Maritime Association, which represents 71 shipping lines and terminal operators, and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union started negotiating in San Francisco in mid-March to renew the old contract, which expired July 1.
After a marathon weekend bargaining session, the two sides announced they had agreed upon terms for a new contract that covers 25,000 full- and part-time workers at 29 West Coast ports. The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are the largest among those.
Now the longshore workers must approve the new contract in a vote, said ILWU spokesperson Craig Merrilees. “It is going to be a while before the vote occurs,” Merrilees said.
First, an elected caucus of 100 longshore officials meets on Aug. 18, when they will decide whether to approve the contract and recommend that rank-and-file members vote on the issue. An election date will then be set.
Also the deal must be approved by the PMA’s members, which include some of the largest cargo-container shipping lines, including Maersk Inc.
Meanwhile, terms of the existing contract have been extended, and longshore workers are expected to remain on the job without any problems, Merrilees said.
Terms of the new contract were not divulged. ILWU President Bob McEllrath and PMA President Jim McKenna said the proposed agreement meets the needs of both workers and the industry. —Deborah Belgum
