Month: <span>June 2023</span>

Job actions stopped

This week began on a tense note, as sources said negotiators for the ILWU and PMA were working under a self-imposed 72-hour deadline to reach a deal before a possible coastwide employer lockout or strike. US Labor Secretary nominee Julie Su also arrived in San Francisco Monday, urging negotiators to reach an agreement and remaining in the Bay Area to offer further assistance until the tentative contract was agreed.

Terminal operators along the West Coast told the Journal of Commerce productivity was back to normal and dispatch orders were filled on the Thursday night shift and the Friday day shift at the Seattle-Tacoma, Oakland and Southern California gateways. “Things are running pretty well,” a source said.

ILWU locals last week resumed a series of on-again, off-again job actions up and down the coast that varied from terminal to terminal and were designed to pressure PMA negotiators to give into the union’s demands, according to press statements by the PMA.

Those actions included the insufficient dispatching of workers, including lashers who secure the top row of containers to the vessel for safety purposes. As a result, some vessels were delayed a day or longer from leaving port. Crane productivity in Seattle-Tacoma dropped from the normal 25 container moves per crane per hour into single digits, sources said.

Source:

Mongelluzzo, B. (2023, June 16). ILWU scores 32% wage increase, $70 million bonus in tentative new contract. Journal of Commerce. https://www.joc.com/article/ilwu-scores-32-wage-increase-70-million-bonus-tentative-new-contract_20230616.html

The tentative West Coast longshore labor agreement that was reached late Wednesday will initiate a lengthy — but normal — process in which officers of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and waterfront employers over the next few months will explain details of the six-year contract to their respective membership and urge ratification of the agreement.

Based on past contracts negotiations, ILWU locals and local employers will finalize so-called side contracts for their regions that do not require approval at the coast level. The ILWU will then schedule a caucus with officers of the locals to go over details of the coastwide agreement, after which the local officers will hold meetings in their regions to discuss the agreement with their membership.

Finally, a date will be set for a coastwide vote by the ILWU membership. The Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), which has 70 members representing shipping lines and terminal operators, will also discuss and take a ratification vote on the agreement.

In past contract years, the entire process took about three months to complete, which means the ratification process this year may run into the early fall.

Still, Ed DeNike, president of SSA Containers, the largest terminal operator on the West Coast, said he is “almost 100% certain” the ILWU and PMA will ratify the contract. DeNike told the annual meeting of the Agriculture Transportation Coalition (AgTC) Thursday in Tacoma that the 13 months of negotiations were “hard,” and neither side feels particularly good about the tentative deal. But both sides felt pressure to reach an agreement this week to prevent the negotiations from completely unraveling, he said.

“When [the negotiating process] is over with, you have a sinking feeling that you screwed up,” DeNike said. “When both sides feel that way, it’s actually good.” SSA operates three container terminals in Seattle, three in Long Beach, and Oakland’s largest terminal.

Job actions by ILWU locals should be over

The tentative contract, which was reached late Wednesday with the assistance of US Labor Secretary nominee Julie Su, is expected to put an end to the on-again, off-again work disruptions by ILWU locals that began last fall and affected all major ports along the West Coast to one degree or another. Those labor tactics included failing to dispatch sufficient numbers of workers, the late dispatching of workers and operating cranes far below normal productivity levels.

Three sources told the Journal of Commerce that operations in Seattle-Tacoma, Oakland and Los Angeles-Long Beach went smoothly during the Wednesday night shift and were proceeding normally during Thursday’s day shift.

DeNike, though, expressed concern that the large volumes of discretionary cargo that retailers have diverted to East and Gulf coast ports this past year will not return quickly enough, or at a magnitude necessary to cover the increased labor costs in the new contract.

He noted that SSA accounts for about 25% of total ILWU worker-hours paid on the West Coast, adding SSA’s cargo volumes so far this year are down about 60% in Seattle, 30% in Oakland and 25% in Long Beach.

“This contract that we just agreed to yesterday is going to increase that cost,” DeNike said.

Source:

Mongelluzzo, B. (2023b, June 15). Tentative west coast longshore deal triggers lengthy ratification process. Journal of Commerce. https://www.joc.com/article/tentative-west-coast-longshore-deal-triggers-lengthy-ratification-process_20230615.html

Cargo handling at West Coast ports was largely normal Tuesday after the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and maritime employers agreed to a cooling off period late Monday during a joint meeting with Julie Su, the Biden administration’s nominee for Labor Secretary, sources said.

The two sides will attempt to use the apparent truce to reach agreement on the highly contentious issue of wages, which triggered disruptive job actions by ILWU locals over the past week and appeared to put the 13-month-long contract negotiations at a low point. Negotiations were due to resume Tuesday.

Su met with the ILWU and Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) in San Francisco in a bid to break the stalemate.

The job actions by ILWU locals in the Pacific Northwest and Southern California ceased for the night shift Monday, sources said, and West Coast ports began Tuesday’s day shift amid normal operations.

“We’re pretty stable here this morning,” a source with knowledge of Southern California port operations told the Journal of Commerce Tuesday. “There were no issues [Monday] night.”

A number of terminals in Los Angeles and Long Beach were shorted key workers last week by ILWU locals, causing a vessel backlog because ships could not leave port.

A spokesperson at the Port of Oakland said all terminals were open and operating normally for the Tuesday day shift following a quiet night shift Monday.

A source told the Journal of Commerce Tuesday that operations in Seattle and Tacoma, which had suffered the worst of the work slowdowns last week, were “kind of back to normal” on the second shift Monday and the day shift Tuesday.

Impatience within the PMA, in part due to months of delay in talks last year over automation matters and jurisdictional issues — but especially over the labor unrest up and down the West Coast — is growing. One source told the Journal of Commerce the possibility of a lockout by employers, which seemed remote just a few weeks ago, has risen and is now “50-50.”

Far apart on wages

The coastwide contract negotiations have yet to reach a conclusion after 13 months, and the current hangup over wages could be the most problematic issue of all. The ILWU is reportedly demanding an increase of $7.50 per hour in the straight-time wage for each year for the six-year life of the new contract, or a staggering $45 hike per hour. The current wage is $46.23 per hour, according to the PMA’s 2022 Annual Report, so the ILWU is seeking to essentially double the straight-time hourly wage for general longshore workers. But after two years of record profits for carriers in 2021 and 2022 that ran well into the tens of billions, longshore workers are looking to cash in.

The PMA and ILWU declined to comment. Sources told the Journal of Commerce the PMA is offering a wage package that is significantly less than what the ILWU seeks.

PMA members are keenly aware that any deal agreed to with the ILWU will serve as a floor for upcoming negotiations with the Office Clerical Union, which represents about 500 workers at roughly 15 marine terminals and ocean carriers in and around Los Angeles-Long Beach. A six-year contract with the OCU expires on July 1 and a scenario where there is simultaneously no ILWU contract and no OCU contract is a recipe for disruption that could be escalated to an entirely new level.

Compensation agreed to with the ILWU will also serve as a basis for upcoming talks with the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) on the East and Gulf coasts.

The ILWU’s wage demand will affect only the straight-time wage that is paid to all longshore workers regardless of their work categories. Under the coastwide contract that expired last July 1, ILWU marine clerks and foremen receive skill-differential pay on top of the base wage. Marine clerks earn 15%, 25% and 30% skill differential pay on top of the hourly wage, depending on their work categories. All foremen earn a 30% wage differential on top of the base hourly wage, according to the PMA Annual Report.

The report listed the earnings of longshore workers who worked 2,000 hours annually, or a 40-hour work week, in 2022 as $197,514 for general longshore workers, $220,042 for marine clerks and $306,291 for foremen.

Source:

Mongelluzzo, B. (2023, June 13). West Coast Ports “stable” after ILWU, PMA agree to cooling off period. Journal of Commerce. https://www.joc.com/article/west-coast-ports-stable-after-ilwu-pma-agree-cooling-period_20230613.html

A vessel backlog that developed earlier this week at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach amid a lack of longshore labor was cleared Friday, a sign that progress was being made in coastwide contract negotiations between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and maritime employers.

Talks between the ILWU and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), which represents ocean carriers and marine terminals, continued in San Francisco Friday for a third straight day. That in itself was another positive indicator, sources said, with negotiations hitting the 13-month mark this weekend.

Sources said the normal complement of workers – known as “lashers” — who secure the top row of containers on a vessel was dispatched Thursday night and early Friday in Los Angeles and Long Beach, allowing ships to be worked without disruption. The ILWU locals in Southern California refused to dispatch sufficient lashers earlier this week, causing delays that resulted in a backlog of vessels.

“It’s good today,” a source close to vessel operations in Los Angeles-Long Beach said Friday. “Our labor (orders) were filled last night and today.”

Disruption continues in Seattle, Tacoma

Kip Louttit, executive director of the Marine Exchange of Southern California, said the backlog of container ships that were forced to slow-steam or stop at anchor had cleared by the day shift on Friday. Four vessels scheduled to arrive by midday Friday would most likely go directly to berth, Louttit said.

Cargo handling in Oakland, meanwhile, was normal for a second straight day.

“The Port of Oakland’s marine terminals are open and operating normally (Friday),” a spokesperson for the port said in a statement to the Journal of Commerce. ”The number of vessels waiting for a berth in Oakland is five, which is about average.”

Operations at Seattle and Tacoma, however, were “still bad” Friday, another source said, as job actions by dockworkers continued. Crane productivity at the Port of Seattle, which plunged to less than 10 percent of normal this week and was only slightly better in Tacoma, remained exceptionally poor on Friday.

The PMA said in a statement Friday that Seattle and Tacoma “continue to suffer significant slowdowns as a result of targeted ILWU work actions.”

The ILWU declined comment.

The fact that the ILWU and PMA held contract negotiations Friday for the third straight day is viewed by sources with knowledge of the talks as a positive sign. In recent weeks, the two sides had been meeting about once per week and were reportedly making little progress, which was demonstrated by the cargo-handling disruptions launched last week by ILWU locals that were intended to pressure the PMA into making concessions on wages.

The two sides have been far apart on the wage issue, with the ILWU reportedly demanding an almost 100% increase in the straight-time hourly wage, with the PMA’s offer said to be in the low single-digits.

“Even though some port operations have improved, the ILWU’s repeated disruptive work actions at strategic ports along the West Coast are increasingly causing companies to divert cargo to more customer-friendly and reliable locations along the Gulf and East Coasts,” the PMA said in its statement. “It is difficult to win back cargo once it’s diverted.”

Source:

Mongelluzzo, B. (2023c, June 9). LA-lb vessel backlog cleared as west coast negotiators remain at bargaining table. Journal of Commerce. https://www.joc.com/article/la-lb-vessel-backlog-cleared-west-coast-negotiators-remain-bargaining-table_20230609.html

Cargo-handling productivity at the ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach and Oakland returned to normal Thursday for the first time in a week, sources said, although the Southern California gateway was contending with a vessel backlog because of job actions by longshore workers earlier in the week. Crane productivity at the ports of Seattle and Tacoma, meanwhile, remained much lower than normal.

That came as the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) were meeting again Thursday in a bid to hammer out a new contract for West Coast dockworkers, 13 months after the two sides first gathered in San Francisco. The ILWU has engaged in sporadic job actions over the past week to pressure the PMA, resulting in port disruptions up and down the coast.

“Seattle is a mess,” a source close to the situation told the Journal of Commerce, adding crane productivity was down to less than 10% of normal.

Although sufficient labor was being dispatched in Los Angeles and Long Beach Thursday, 47 vessels had backed up before the first shift began working, according to Kip Louttit, executive director of the Marine Exchange of Southern California. The backlog in Los Angeles-Long Beach is the result of several days in which the ILWU locals refused to dispatch a sufficient number of “lashers” to secure containers on ships, a necessary final step before vessels can safely leave port after being fully loaded.

Louttit said 31 ships have been delayed for at least a week and another 16 have been delayed for at least four days. However, the backlog should be reduced relatively quickly if sufficient lashers are dispatched, he said.

Terminal operators in Los Angeles and Long Beach generally said they were receiving sufficient labor Thursday. “We worked last night and we’re working today,” a second source told the Journal of Commerce.

A spokesperson for the Port of Oakland said all terminals were operating normally Thursday, while the port had a seven-vessel backlog due to labor disruptions earlier this week.

Crane productivity critically low in Seattle, Tacoma

Crane productivity by ILWU locals in Seattle and Tacoma was far less than normal Wednesday night and Thursday, which slowed delivery of containers to importers and compromises the ability of the terminals to load export containers onto vessels. A spokesperson for the Northwest Seaport Alliance of Seattle and Tacoma said three vessels were at anchor on Thursday.

Sources told the Journal of Commerce negotiators are under pressure to close the huge gap separating the union and employers over wage proposals. The ILWU is reportedly seeking an almost 100% increase in hourly wages over the six-year life of the contract, while the PMA is reportedly offering a wage hike in the low single-digits.

Source:

Mongelluzzo, B. (2023b, June 8). Southern California Ports Navigate Vessel Backlog after ILWU job actions. Journal of Commerce. https://www.joc.com/article/southern-california-ports-navigate-vessel-backlog-after-ilwu-job-actions_20230608.html

US West Coast longshore labor is flexing its power to seek significantly higher wages and manning changes that would put two workers rather than one on some port equipment, sources said Monday, continuing a fourth day of disruptions at some marine terminals.

Several container terminals were hit with job actions in Seattle, Long Beach and Los Angeles on Monday, according to sources. While the severity of port disruptions on Monday was less than on Friday when dockworkers shut down a number of terminals along the coast from Long Beach to Seattle, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) are still far apart on salary and manning levels, according to four sources close to the negotiations.

One operator at a Los Angeles marine terminal said he didn’t receive any of the labor he requested from the ILWU hiring hall on Monday, adding, “We probably will idle the ship today.”

A spokesperson for SSA Marine said labor gangs working four vessels in Seattle were fired on Monday because of low productivity on the cranes. SSA, which operates three terminals in Long Beach, said two of the terminals there have not worked an international ship since Saturday.

The sporadic ILWU job actions that continued over the weekend have included slowing down ship-to-shore crane productivity from the normal 25 to 26 lifts per crane per hour to about 20 lifts per hour, or even lower.

The PMA slammed the ILWU in a statement Monday for continuing “concerted and disruptive work actions.”

“Union leaders are implementing many familiar disruption tactics from their job action playbook, including refusing to dispatch workers to marine terminals, slowing operations, and making unfounded health and safety claims,” PMA said. “The ILWU’s coast-wide work actions since June 2 are forcing retailers, manufacturers and other shippers to shift cargo away from the West Coast in favor of ports on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. Much of the diverted cargo may never return to the West Coast.”

The ILWU declined to comment. But the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) issued a statement saying it “stands in solidarity” with the ILWU, claiming the union has been “disparaged by the PMA through a calculated media campaign designed to boost its contractual leverage at the expense of West Coast dockworkers.”

Spokespersons at port authorities said most of their terminals that were affected Friday and over the weekend received full labor allocations for Monday’s day shift.

White House monitoring situation

During a briefing Monday, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the Biden administration was monitoring contract negotiations closely and pointed to both sides tentatively agreeing on undisclosed “certain key issues.” The White House was “going to continue to encourage all parties to work in good faith toward a mutually beneficial resolution that ensures that workers get fair benefits, equality of life and the wages they deserve,” Jean-Pierre said.

The job actions taking place on the West Coast in recent days prompted the National Retail Federation (NRF) on Monday to send its third letter to the Biden administration urging federal intervention in the negotiations between the ILWU and the PMA, which represents shipping lines and terminal operators, since the coastwide contract negotiations began in May 2022.

“As we enter the peak shipping season for the holidays, these additional disruptions will force retailers and other important shipping partners to continue to shift cargo away from the West Coast ports until a new labor contract is established,” David French, the NRF’s senior vice president of government relations, said in a letter to the Biden administration. “It is imperative that the parties return to the negotiating table. We urge the administration to mediate to ensure the parties quickly finalize a new contract without additional disruptions.”

Union seeking significant salary hike

Negotiations are said to be hung up over an unprecedented demand by the ILWU for a wage increase of $7.50 per hour for each year of the proposed six-year contract, which would increase longshore wages by close to 100% over the life of the contract. Two sources close to the talks confirmed the union’s wage demand.

By comparison, wage increases over the past 20 years have been in the range of 50 cents to $1.50 per hour for each year of the contract, according to the PMA’s annual report.

The ILWU is looking to take advantage of the record profits carriers booked in 2021 and 2022 amid pandemic-induced disruption in the global supply chain that came amid historic import levels from Asia and massive consumer spending. But those profits have since diminished as the ocean shipping market returned to normalcy with consumers pulling back on spending their discretionary income on merchandise.

The ILWU is also reportedly demanding that certain cargo-handling equipment, such as yard tractors, be assigned to two dockworkers. That has long been a practice with ship-to-shore cranes, which require a higher level of skill. Under the ILWU’s demand, two drivers would be assigned to each yard tractor, which means one longshoreman would work for four hours and get paid for eight, and the second longshoreman would work the remaining four hours of the shift and get paid for eight.

Another significant issue in the negotiations involves retroactive pay, sources say. In each contract negotiation, there has been an unspoken agreement between the PMA and ILWU that whatever wage increase is agreed upon in the new contract, it would be retroactive back to the expiration of the previous contract, a source told the Journal of Commerce. That means the PMA and ILWU have been operating under the assumption that the wage increase being discussed for the new contract would be retroactive to July 1, 2022, when the prior deal expired.

But with negotiations now past the one-year mark, the PMA has reportedly told the ILWU that retroactive pay will be off the table as of July 1 if a tentative contract is not reached by then, according to the source. That PMA strategy is designed to provide a sense of urgency so the ILWU will reach an agreement soon rather than dragging the negotiations out further, the source said.

Terminal operators told the Journal of Commerce that if ILWU job actions stopped and cargo handling went smoothly Monday, coastwide negotiations between the union and PMA would resume on Tuesday. But it’s uncertain if that will happen now.

Source:

Mongelluzzo, B. (2023, June 5). Update: USWC disruptions continue as ILWU flexes power amid wage, manning gap with employers. Journal of Commerce. https://www.joc.com/article/update-uswc-disruptions-continue-ilwu-flexes-power-amid-wage-manning-gap-employers_20230605

International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Canada on Monday threatened to strike at the ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert, telling its rank-and-file to vote later this week on whether to issue a 72-hour notice for a work action.

The threat against Vancouver and Prince Rupert, both major gateways for US cargoes with direct intermodal rail services to Chicago, comes as ILWU Canada’s US counterpart slows cargo flow for a fourth day. The prospect of labor disruptions on both the US and Canadian West coasts is unprecedented. Vancouver is Canada’s largest container port and Prince Rupert ranks third.

ILWU Canada’s negotiating committee said in a statement it had authorized a vote for Thursday and Friday on whether to strike. A week before the five-year contract was set to expire at the end of March, ILWU Canada asked the Canadian federal government for help in reaching a new contract with the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association, citing a lack of “meaningful” progress.

ILWU Canada is seeking significant wage increases, while the potential for automation of cargo-handling equipment at a planned Vancouver marine terminal is also raising labor’s ire.

In May 2019, an impasse in contract negotiations spurred employers to lock out ILWU workers at Vancouver for less than 24 hours before a tentative agreement was reached.

Source:

staff, J. of C. (2023, June 5). ILWU Canada threatens strike at Vancouver, Prince Rupert. Journal of Commerce. https://www.joc.com/article/ilwu-canada-threatens-strike-vancouver-prince-rupert_20230605.html