PORT NEGOTIATIONS
Feds Send in Mediator to Help With Longshore Contract Talks
The beginning of the new year has brought in new help to resolve the stalled eight-month long talks between West Coast longshore workers and their employers.
The U.S. Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service said it plans to send in Scot Beckenbaugh, a skilled mediator and the service’s deputy director, to get the two sides back to the bargaining table.
Contract talks between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association began in mid-May to crank out a new six-year contract that would replace the one that expired last July 1.
While strides have been made to resolve one of the stickiest points of the contract—health care—other issues have not been as easy to resolve.
Meanwhile, the PMA, which represents terminal operators and shipping lines, has accused dockside employees of work slowdowns that are aggravating the congestion problems at the Port of Long Beach and the Port of Los Angeles.
“In response to a joint request for assistance from the parties, collective bargaining between ILWU and PMA representatives will continue as soon as possible under the auspices of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service,” the government entity said in a press release issued on Jan. 5.
The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service said it is not releasing any information regarding future meeting dates, locations or status of the negotiations.
The contract negotiations cover nearly 20,000 longshore workers at 29 West Coast ports.—
