The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) employer group have been in negotiations since May. Ocean carriers find a way to deploy their expanding fleets, Hapag-CMA deal sees re-emergence of cross-alliance slot chartering, Carriers take short-term rate hit and eye post-CNY demand surge. The current agreement expires at 5pm on 1 July and both sides have warned a new agreement will not be reached in time. The PMA also alluded to the fear in the industry that contract negotiations could lead to disruptions for carriers at ports that are already overwhelmed by the surge in imports. After talks broke down on Friday afternoon, the unions website invited members and their friends and family to join the picket line, starting early Saturday morning. Nobody does anything unless theyre forced to. The next issue of Sunrise presented by Vancouver Sun will soon be in your inbox. 2023 Vancouver Sun, a division of Postmedia Network Inc. All rights reserved. Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your California Privacy Rights (User Agreement updated 1/1/21. A Thursday, Oct 27, report from the Marine Exchange of Southern California said a new record low was set with just one container ship backed up as of noon that day. He doesn't understand, or doesn't care, that when transit times triple or quadruple because of port and rail bottlenecks, these shipping lines now have to pay for their billion-dollar ships with a third or even a quarter as many shipments per container, so their prices simply have to reflect that. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. Shippers often lobby, even beg, for these contract negotiations to start early, well before the current contract expires. And no benefits at all? What will LA City Council do about end of renter protections on Feb. 1? Visit our Community Guidelines for more information and details on how to adjust your email settings. Whatever they decide does affect us and why not make us part of it? The union staged nine months of slowdowns during the last contract negotiations. A new supply chain risk: 22,000 dockworkers who may soon strike. by Chris Jennewein May 10, 2022 Container shipping operations at Pier 300 at the Port of Los Angeles. It was a time when longshoremen fought, fell and ultimately triumphed together despite the odds against them. We encountered an issue signing you up. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion delivered straight to your inbox at 7 a.m., Monday to Friday. The fact that the PMA includes local American terminals and warehousing businesses, too trucking companies and railroads as well. ILWU and PMA in contract talks reassure shippers: 'no strike or lockout'. With the contentious issues of automated cargo handling, wages and benefits, few thought this years contract talks between dockworkers and employers would be quick or easy. The longshore and warehouse union at Westshore Terminals is on strike, suspending operations at one of Canada's largest and busiest ports for moving coal. The union representing more than 14,000 longshoremen originally planned to begin a strike on Sunday, which would close cargo ports on the East Coast and the Gulf of Mexico. Im here every day hoping to get a job., The union is keeping absolute silence about the new contract, which includes provisions affecting casuals, although they have no voting rights. We have enabled email notificationsyou will now receive an email if you receive a reply to your comment, there is an update to a comment thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. A revealing episode took place Friday afternoon, when several ILWU officials confronted the World Socialist Web Site reporting team. A similar impasse would have severe consequences for trans-Pacific shipments to the USWC and potential knock-on effects for the global container shipping industry. Less-than-truckload rates are rising despite economic headwinds as accessorials, general rate increases, and a trend toward higher freight rate classes support a high pricing floor. U.S. West Coast ports and terminal operators are heading into their first round of contract negotiations in eight years with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union. Thats their leverage., In case of a strike, she said, Were not obligated to strike since were not union, but I would not cross the picket line. Another worker interjected, Im down, totally down. It hasn't stopped him from vilifying the steamship lines 20 days before a contract expiration that could easily be the final nail in the coffin of this economy. Their employers are a similarly mixed bag of organizations the port terminals, the steamship lines, the warehouses and logistics conglomerates that either own their own berths or are contracted by city and state port authorities to operate public berths. Phillip Sanfield, a spokesman for the Port of Los Angeles, said the Maritime Exchange of Southern California reported there were 23 vessels in the port, including 17 at berth and six at anchor. If they [ILWU] tell me I cant because I can be punished for it, I have to honor what they agree upon, but personally I find it a weakness. But thats all part of a larger conflict over ILWUs contention that employers have not lived up a 2008 commitment to support dockworkers in jurisdictional disputes with other unions. By clicking Sign Up, I confirmthat I have read and agreeto the Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. Never forget: . Still, they remain about 20% above normal - stoking shipper anxieties that any breakdown in the often-contentious labor talks could spawn work slowdowns, gum up cargo flows and send inflation-fueling transportation costs even higher. We ask you to keep your comments relevant and respectful. The pandemic presented a particular challenge that saw the ranks of longshore workers and port terminals pulling together as cargo surged and ships congregated outside the breakwater waiting to be unloaded. The Seattle dispute, meanwhile, involves a terminal run by a company called SSA Marine and jurisdiction of cold-ironing work the process by which ships hook up to shoreside electrical power. But it now appears it could be several more months before a contract is signed as negotiations have paused over a jurisdictional dispute at a terminal in the Port of Seattle. It used to be that a dockworker would be the union president. One, who refused to identify himself, launched into a vulgar tirade against the WSWSs reporting and demanded to know why the team was even bothering to speak with casuals, claiming, they dont know anything. The officials declared that casuals, even though they are not union members, are under a union-enforced gag order, and asserted that they would not allow them to continue to speak with the WSWS. Training programs Although the congestion is slowly being cleared, there is labour uncertainty looming with the contracts of 15,000 port workers expiring on July 1, 2022. When I started here, I was still working my previous job at first, then was doing so many hours here that I left the other job. For decades, the ILWU has made one concession after another on automation, beginning in earnest in 1960 through the Mechanization and Modernization agreement and continued in recent years in 2002, 2008 and 2014-15. Nothing odd there. Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement updated 7/1/2022). "Everything is gonna stop. In a statement last week, it said while strike notice had been served, the parties remain in contact and continue to have the assistance of a mediator under the Canada Labour Code. We take the slack that other [A and B Class] workers dont want. The labor secretary, a former mayor of Boston and a past union president, told reporters at the time that he trusted the negotiation process and would be available if an impasse occurred or he was asked to step in. Looming large is the 2022 longshore contract expiration. In addition to the standard issues of wages and benefits, experts have predicted that the union will likely take a strong stance against automation of port operations. Unless we force, theyre not going to do nothing. July 1. Import weakness kept volume flat at the merged French ports of Le Havre, Rouen, and Paris, but an improved river and rail network resulted in a large rise in hinterland traffic. After all, the two parties involved represent many of the companies and workers that keep West Coast ports running. But longshoremen said the contract they want is for the entire West Coast, where a strike would indefinitely close all ports in the region. Trans-Pac spot rate spread for East, West coasts narrows ahead of Lunar New Year, US shippers still facing LTL rate pressure: Cowen/AFS study, French port group Haropa expands inland river network, RoadOne looks to tap Houston freight growth with deal for Texas drayage carrier, Lack of space costing Zeebrugge new ro/ro clients: port. But the expiration of labor contracts with more than 22,000 West Coast port workers this summer could . I marched with my dad, have marched as a worker. Skill and cargo penalty differentials increase pay from there. The ILWU disputes those figures, pointing to the $45 per hour base wage. The Pacific Maritime Association and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union will begin labor. ILWU members include clerks, longshoremen, crane operators, and other terminal workers 15,000 of them all up and down the west coast, from Bellingham, Washington to San Diego, California. Wednesday's closure was local to the Port of Oakland. Here We Go Again. Posted by Versa. And of all the indelicate, inopportune times and places to choose for this speech, he headed to the busiest, most important seaport in the Americas, twenty days before the deadline crashes down on the most delicate labor negotiation of the year. ILWU's Longshore Division identified safety, wages, benefits, jurisdiction and technology as priorities for the new contract. It was called "The Big Strike.". Unauthorized distribution, transmission or republication strictly prohibited. However, the union tends to prefer holding off on earnest negotiations until the previous . The Maritime Executive. - July 6, 2022 The contract between shipping companies and 22,000 West Coast dockworkers affiliated with the International Longshore Workers Union ran out last Friday at 5 p.m., but the union. (John Sharp/jsharp@al.com). In my previous job we also worked for months without a contract. Demonize the steamship lines, and introduce bills in Congress to punish them for everything that's outside of their control. The current contract, which covers some 22,000 workers at 29 West Coast ports, expired in July and while no one expected a new agreement to be in place that soon, news of the recent hiccup will further extend the process. The Maritime Executive, Published An administration is expected to address these matters. Negotiations between the PMA and ILWU are delicate at the best of times, and these are not the best of times. The two negotiating parties have signed a statement saying they will not partake in lock-outs or slowdowns during the negotiating process. 51.255.201.10 The stock market is down 15% so far this year, inflation is skyrocketing, and energy prices are so high that the unemployed can't afford the commute if they accept a job. January 25, 2022 Southern California's ports garnered a lot of attention last year with record-breaking congestion and help from the US president to move to 24/7 operations. We reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. There was an error, please provide a valid email address. Originally set to end in June 2019, the parties in 2017 agreed to extend the end date to June 2022, after roughly two-thirds of union members voted in favor, avoiding cargo disruptions in . Its a rigged system. They're "foreigners," after all the easiest of targets for Democrat politicians for as long as our country has been around. No new talks, in fact, had been scheduled for October, though there are hopes they will resume next month, according to a source with ties to the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, who requested anonymity because the two negotiating parties have agreed to not publicly discuss the talks. What do you think dock workers should be fighting for? The dockworkers union's past includes some of the most influential strikes in US history. The complex notched its third-highest monthly import result in May, processing 499,960 20-foot equivalent units (TEU). The move now stalls the union's legal strike position. It's not easy work, but it's well compensated; the typical ILWU member earns about $200,000 per year (since that's an average, there are union members who earn under $100,000 and members who earn over $300,000, depending on specialty, hours, overtime, and seniority). While Westshore Terminal has not suffered and has continued to prosper, the union membership in their personal and work lives have faced many difficulties over the past few years, such as working through an unprecedented pandemic, cost of living increases and skyrocketing inflation, noted the pamphlet. Now they hire a guy. 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