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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

Longshore labor and employers at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have reached agreement on manning requirements for non-automated terminals, sources said Wednesday, overcoming a major hurdle that could accelerate a deal on a new coastwide contract as negotiations near the one-year mark.

Three sources told the Journal of Commerce that the deal between Local 13 of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), which represents terminal operators and shipping lines, was reached Tuesday and involves manning requirements for cargo-handling equipment at conventional container terminals in Los Angeles-Long Beach.

The PMA declined comment Wednesday; the ILWU did not respond to a request for comment.

The two sides reached agreement on manning needs at the three automated terminals in Southern California several weeks ago.

Coastwide negotiations in San Francisco will now turn in earnest to the two major issues yet to be settled — wages and pension benefits. West Coast labor contract negotiations began on May 10, 2022.

LA-LB job actions have ceased

ILWU Local 13 for more than a week in mid-April engaged in job actions at Los Angeles and Long Beach to call attention to its proposals and bring management to the negotiating table. Those actions included the “red tagging” of equipment that triggered time-consuming safety checks and the late dispatching of dockworkers to the terminals each day.

Those activities ceased leading up to the beginning of local talks in Los Angeles on April 24.

Sources close to the coastwide negotiations say they are increasingly optimistic that a tentative agreement could be reached in the next couple of weeks. In early April, the ILWU local and waterfront employers in Hawaii reached a tentative agreement that included a 10% wage increase in the first year of the contract.

When a tentative coastwide agreement is reached, ILWU locals up and down the West Coast will wrap up discussions on remaining issues at their ports. Then the entire coastwide agreement will be distributed to the ILWU membership. ILWU local officers will discuss the contract with their rank and file before they vote on it. Sources say that process will take several weeks, with a ratification vote possible in mid-summer assuming a deal is struck soon.

Source:

Mongelluzzo, B. (2023, May 3). Ilwu, management approve Manning deal for non-automated La-lb terminals. Journal of Commerce. https://www.joc.com/article/ilwu-management-approve-manning-deal-non-automated-la-lb-terminals_20230503.html

(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

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