California Apparel News

After months of negotiations, a potentially crippling strike at 15 East Coast and Gulf Coast ports has been avoided after negotiators representing longshore workers and shipping companies agreed to a tentative deal on a new six-year contract.

The contract now must be approved by longshore workers—whose last contract expired at the end of September—and shipping lines and port associations. In addition, agreements must be reached between individual longshore union locals and individual ports from Maine to Texas.

The conclusion of a successful bargaining session was announced late Friday night, Feb. 1, by George H. Cohen, director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. Federal mediators had been overseeing the talks since September between the International Longshoremen’s Association, which represents 14,500 longshore workers, and the United States Maritime Alliance, which represents shipping lines, terminal operators and port associations.

“I can report that the tentative agreement reflects the culmination of good faith negotiations in which the parties successfully accommodated strongly held competing positions because of their commitment to problem solving,” Cohen said in a statement. “Again, collective bargaining has proven its worth by avoiding a potential work stoppage that would have had a severe negative impact on the nation’s economy.”

Talks were looking rather precarious for a while. Negotiations broke down Dec. 18 when both sides failed to resolve a major hurdle over container royalty payments. The U.S. Maritime Alliance wanted to cap the payments that are based on every container moved through the ports. Longshore union negotiators prevailed by keeping the container royalty payments up for increase. Those payments now amount to about $15,000 a year to every longshore worker.

Many apparel manufacturers and retailers had made contingency plans to divert their cargo to West Coast ports when the possibility of a strike drew nearer. The deadline for the latest talks was set to expire at midnight on Feb. 6.

The American Apparel & Footwear Association welcomed the announcement of a new tentative agreement. “I applaud all parties for their efforts to overcome their differences. This tentative agreement restores the predictability the 4 million U.S. apparel and footwear industry workers in our industry count on to ensure all Americans have access for affordable and fashionable clothes and shoes,” said Kevin Burke, AAFA’s president and chief executive. Burke noted that 98 percent of all apparel and 99 percent of all footwear sold in the United States is imported from overseas.