Port Negotiations Have Industry Watching, Waiting
After retail trade groups voiced concern that contract negotiations were headed in the wrong direction for longshore workers at East and Gulf Coast ports, labor-union representatives said progress had been made on two key issues bogging down talks. That was enough to calm retailers’ fears.
The two issues resolved were automation, which workers fear will take jobs away, and chassis maintenance and repair, which shipping lines have begun to outsource.
The International Longshoremen’s Association and the U.S. Maritime Alliance—which represents container carriers, port associations and direct employers—began negotiations in late March to renew a labor contract between the two that expires Sept. 30.
Harold Daggett, the ILA president, whose union represents 15,000 workers and is headquartered in North Bergen, N.J., had warned negotiations could be contentious if these issues weren’t resolved, threatening a strike for the first time in 35 years.
Shippers of apparel and other cargo started making contingency plans to divert their cargo from the East Coast to the West Coast if negotiations didn’t look more promising.
After the National Retail Federation and the Retail Industry Leaders Association sent letters on July 16 urging labor and management to negotiate in good faith and not disrupt the supply chain, labor-union representatives later issued a statement saying tentative agreements had been made on the two most important issues of automation and chassis.
“We had a productive session in Florida,” Daggett and USMX Chief Executive Officer James Capo said in a joint statement from their negotiating headquarters in Delray Beach. “We’re pleased that we were able to resolve some important issues and look forward to continuing bargaining to reach agreement on the remaining issues in the current negotiations.”
They also said they would “reach an agreement without any disruption in the supply chain and operation of 14 ports.”
This made retailers happy. “We are encouraged by the latest round of negotiations, which was the week of July 18 in Florida,” said Jonathan Gold, the NRF’s vice president of supply chain and customs policy. “It is a positive they have made an agreement on the national [contract issues] and have a green light to talk about issues on the local port level. That green light wouldn’t have been given unless they thought they had a path forward on the master contract.”
Gold said he hadn’t heard of any NRF members diverting their cargo to West Coast ports yet, although they have contingency plans in place. —Deborah Belgum
