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ILWU says has tentative deal with PMA on ‘key issues,’ but withholds details

(Updating story with comment from the Pacific Maritime Association).

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) on Thursday said it had reached a “tentative agreement” with West Coast employers on “certain key issues,” but indicated a final deal on a new contract was still being hammered out by the two sides.

“Talks are continuing on an ongoing basis until an agreement is reached,” the ILWU said in a brief statement. It did not disclose the issues it had reached agreement on with the Pacific Maritime Association, which represents marine terminal and ocean carrier employers.

The ILWU statement comes even as ILWU Local 13 continued to engage in job action as recently as Wednesday that has been slowing down cargo handling at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach for three straight weeks.

Thursday’s public announcement by the ILWU differed from previous statements made over the past year on the progress of labor talks, which were jointly released with the PMA. Instead, the PMA released its own statement late Thursday that confirmed progress in the talks, but also took the union to task for job action in Los Angeles-Long Beach.

“While significant progress has been achieved in coastwise contract negotiations, several key issues remain unresolved,” the PMA said. “Meanwhile, work actions led by ILWU Local 13 at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach continued to disrupt some operations at key marine terminals (Thursday). The union is deliberately conducting inspections that are not routine, unscheduled, and done in a way that disrupt terminal operations.”

Talks between the ILWU and PMA began last May 10; the prior contract expired July 1.

A coalition of 238 US shippers and transportation interests, frustrated by the lack of progress in the West Coast labor negotiations and the resulting diversion of cargo, urged the White House last month to intervene in the talks.

Interestingly, the ILWU statement was published just as Julie Su, the Biden administration’s nominee to be the next Secretary of Labor, was appearing for her confirmation hearing Thursday in the Senate. Su, California’s former labor chief, is seen as a heavily pro-labor pick.

Multiple sources told the Journal of Commerce on Wednesday that ILWU Local 13 had “red-tagged” cranes at at least six of the 12 container terminals in Los Angeles-Long Beach as being unsafe, which forced the shutdown of that equipment until it could be inspected. The time-consuming tactic has forced terminals to halt operations for times ranging from an eight-hour work shift to an entire day, sources have said.

Local 13 is also continuing to delay the dispatch of workers each day to most of the terminals in the port complex.

“It’s an escalation (of the red-tagging) and a continuation (of the late dispatches),” a source said of the union’s tactics.

Local 13 officials were not immediately available for comment Thursday.

Source:

Mongelluzzo, B. (2023, April 20). Update: ILWU says has tentative deal with PMA on ‘key issues,’ but withholds details. Journal of Commerce. Retrieved April 24, 2023, from https://www.joc.com/article/ilwu-says-has-tentative-deal-pma-key-issues-withholds-details_20230420.html

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ILWU stall LA-LB terminal openings after closures last week

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 13 on Monday delayed work at most of the marine terminals at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach by slowing the dispatch of workers, after union job actions closed nearly all of the port complex’s terminals Thursday night and Friday morning.

According to three sources close to the matter who asked not to be identified, ILWU Local 13 also refused to allow a representative of the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), which represents employers, to observe the dispatching process. The dispatch hall is jointly operated by the ILWU and the PMA.

Neither ILWU Local 13 nor the PMA responded to a request for comment.

While Monday’s job actions resulted only in delays — as opposed to a full shutdown, as occurred last week — the actions were yet another indication that the coastwide labor contract negotiations, which have been under way for 11 months, are heading in the wrong direction.

ILWU Local 13 said in a statement Friday that it held its monthly membership meeting Thursday evening for the swearing in of incoming Local 13 President Gary Herrera, noting that the membership meeting is a “contractual right.”

A source close to the matter said that although the ILWU is allowed to call a stop-work meeting each month under the coastwide contract to discuss union issues, Thursday’s meeting was not previously arranged according to the terms of the agreement.

In addition, ILWU Local 13 said union members who observe religious holidays “took the opportunity to celebrate with their families” on Friday. Good Friday is not a recognized holiday under the coastwide contract.

In a subsequent statement Friday, the PMA said, “These actions undermine confidence in West Coast ports and threaten to further accelerate the diversion of discretionary cargo to Atlantic and Gulf Coast ports.”

Source:

Mongelluzzo, B. (2023, April 10). ILWU stall la-lb terminal openings after closures last week: Journal of Commerce. ILWU stall LA-LB terminal openings after closures last week | Journal of Commerce. Retrieved April 11, 2023, from https://www.joc.com/article/ilwu-stall-la-lb-terminal-openings-after-closures-last-week_20230410.html

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Arbitration call as Canadian port labour negotiations go off the rails

While contract negotiations between US west coast labour and marine terminals move at a snail’s pace, talks north of the border, in Canada, quickly came off the rails.

After a few sessions, barely two weeks after the start of talks, the International Warehouse & Longshoremen’s Union (ILWU) stepped back from discussions with the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA) for a new contract at Canadian west coast ports, and asked the federal government in Ottawa for conciliation.

And the face-off is also casting a shadow over Vancouver Fraser Port Authority’s (VFPA) plan to build a new container terminal.

Negotiations for a new contract on the west coast – including the ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert – got under way on 6 March to replace the five-year deal expiring at the end of the month.

Nobody was expecting a quick settlement, previous contract talks had dragged on for a year or more, but the speed the negotiations hit an impasse was a surprise. After five rounds of talks, the ILWU asked the government to appoint a conciliator to get the negotiations back on track.

“ILWU Canada is taking this action because there has been no meaningful progress with the BCMEA,” the union declared.

A conciliation officer has to be appointed within 15 days, and the process is set for 60 days, but can be extended upon request from both sides. They have gone through this on previous occasions without reaching a compromise.

In the run-up to the negotiations, the ILWU signalled it would be seeking “significant” wage increases for its members, and benefits and working conditions were also expected to produce some tough negotiations.

Probably the biggest stumbling block, however, is the thorny issue of automation of container terminals – just like south of the border, where the ILWU has taken a firm stand.

The issue had been a flashpoint in the previous round of Canadian contract negotiations in 2019, which culminated in a brief lock-out. The two sides worked out a compromise soon afterwards with the help of an arbitrator and, in the aftermath, the union commissioned a study on terminal automation.

This concluded that an automated terminal could operate with 50% to 90% fewer workers than a manually operated one.

The issue has risen again as VFPA is planning a new container terminal close to the port’s Deltaport facility and the union is fighting to prevent automation.. It argued that this would not only affect employment at the new site, but have a knock-on effect at the port’s existing container facilities, which would be forced to follow suit to remain competitive.

In February, the ILWU sent an open letter to the government in Ottawa expressing concern over the impact of the planned facility on jobs and on the environment.

VFPA has been lobbying hard to gain environmental approval for the new terminal and asked the union to join its effort, but the ILWU rejected this – even after the port authority dangled a carrot in the shape of 800 or more guaranteed jobs if the facility got built. This was dismissed by the union, which said the VFPA had previously argued that decisions on automation would be up to terminal operators.

Ottawa’s conciliation officer is facing a near-impossible task, as both sides appear set to battle for their objectives.

Source:

Putzger, I. (2023, March 30). Arbitration call as Canadian port labour negotiations go off the rails. The Loadstar. Retrieved April 3, 2023, from https://theloadstar.com/arbitration-call-as-canadian-port-labour-negotiations-go-off-the-rails/