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