The longshore union says the ‘few issues that remain unresolved relate directly to the carriers.’
The International Longshore and Warehouse Union said Monday it wants carrier representatives sitting on the board of the Pacific Maritime Association “to come to the negotiating table so
that direct and constructive dialogue between key decision makers can
take place.”
Robert McEllrath, the ILWU president and chairman of the union’s negotiating committee, said in a press release, “The few issues
that remain unresolved relate directly to the carriers, and these key
carriers need to come to the table.
“Both sides need the right people in the room to get things
finalized,” he continued. “Sure, my counterpart, Jim McKenna [the president of the PMA and the chief negotiator for management] has
been involved in negotiations from the start, but all the decisions are
made by the carriers sitting on PMA’s board of directors.”
According to the 2013 PMA annual report, there are 11 members of PMA’s board of directors, and the union said most are carrier executives who are also chief officers of the largest terminals.
The ILWU said none of them “have
had any direct participation in negotiations since the parties began
bargaining in May. PMA’s principal decision makers have not yet, in
seven months of bargaining, had a single face-to-face meeting with union
negotiators. In contrast, the union has its principal decision makers, a
member-elected negotiating committee comprised of local union
representatives, and international officers at the bargaining table,” the union said.
McEllrath said, “Indirect negotiations won’t get us over the finish line.”
Last week, the PMA called for a federal mediator to get involved in the contract talks, which began in May.
The employer group renewed that call for a federal mediator again on
Monday saying that “given the lack of progress at the table, the ILWU’s
continuation of debilitating work slowdowns and the impact those actions
are having on businesses throughout America, it’s clear that mediation
is required to resolve the many issues that remain at the bargaining
table.”
The union said, “We are in the process of considering whether or not mediation
would be productive.”
It added that “the ILWU is always open to
using productive tools and ideas in obtaining a fair agreement.”
The last contract between the PMA and ILWU expired on July 1. About 20,000 workers are covered by the contract.
PMA said the ILWU’s press release on Monday “underscores the need for federal mediation in these negotiations. Unfortunately, the characterization that the PMA and ILWU have only a ‘few issues’ left to resolve is inaccurate. Significant issues remain unresolved, including wages, pensions, jurisdiction and work rules. Further, the ILWU’s escalating rhetoric on congestion is nothing more than a smokescreen for its slowdown activities.”
PMA continued, “The only major coast-wide issue on which we’ve reached tentative agreement is the health care plan — already one of the most generous in America. Even with the tentative health care agreement — identified by the ILWU as its No. 1 priority when negotiations began in May — the union has engaged in debilitating work slowdowns over the past two months at terminals up and down the coast.
Jonathan Gold, vice president of supply chain and customs policy at the National Retail Federation said Monday’s “dueing press releases from the ILWU and PMA only goes to reinforce the need for the parties to agree on federal mediation. The supply chain community has raised that option and NRF continues to believe that is the best course of action at this critical time.”
“The fact that the parties still can’t agree on the status of the negotiations – let alone items within the contract – show that they need an independent third-party to help them bridge their outstanding differences,” he added. “It’s extremely concerning to the supply chain – importers and exporters – that after eight months of negotiations the parties seem no closer to reaching a final deal.”
“Our hope is that a federal mediator can resolve the outstanding issues in order to avoid any potential action or response that results in a complete shutdown of the West Coast ports. The ports, labor, management, shippers and the broader economy cannot afford to have that happen.”
Bruce Carlton, president and chief executive officer of the National Industrial Transportation League said he was not surprised by Monday’s exchange and added “I’m also not surprised that progress in the negotiations appears to be minimal.”
“Back in May both sides sent signals of a much improved labor/management relationship from past years, but seven months of talks with no hints of real progress would indicate they have a long way to go yet.”
PMA said last week that “even after seven months of negotiations, we remain far apart on several issues, and the union slowdowns continue to disrupt the movement of cargo through the ports. Business is being lost, and we are concerned that the damage is permanent, and shippers will be fearful to put their trust in the West Coast ports going forward.”
The ILWU countered that the problems at the West Coast ports are not its fault, but have been caused by carriers.
“West Coast ports have been plagued all year with a carrier-caused
congestion crisis that has frustrated customers and made work on the
docks much more dangerous and difficult,” the union said. “The congestion crisis began
prior to the start of contract negotiations and well before PMA began
using the ILWU slowdown allegations to deflect criticism from its member
carriers.
“Despite efforts to blame the ILWU, industry experts agree
that the West Coast port congestion problem resulted from a number of
industry-based decisions and mistakes, including, but not limited to:
- Carriers ceasing to provide chassis to move containers off the terminals.
- Carriers outsourcing their chassis pools to remote locations causing bottlenecks.
- Terminal operators hoarding limited chassis at the expense of competing terminal operators.
- Shippers and consignees using containers on chassis as mobile
storage units — thus exasperating the chassis shortage. - Carriers building new mega-ships with 14,000-plus containers that overwhelm terminal capacity and capability.
- Carriers increasingly entering noncompetitive alliances with each
other and squeezing terminal operators and port authorities. - Terminal operators and stevedores squeezing labor on traditionally
negotiated jurisdiction in response to pressure from carriers. - Truck driver shortages because the industry forces a piecemeal wage model.
- Tight intermodal rail capacity brought about from the political
push of energy trains into an already squeezed rail infrastructure.”
The union claimed that last week PMA members in the ports of Seattle and Tacoma
“compounded congestion problems by refusing to use critical night shifts
for import/export cargo in an apparent effort to provoke an even deeper
congestion crisis that they hoped to blame on the ILWU. By refusing to
order manpower for night shifts, PMA unilaterally and self-servingly
restricted work to eight hours a day at the peril of both importers and
local exporters. At the same time, PMA member terminal operators in the
container ports of Portland, Oakland, Los Angeles and Long Beach
continued to work night shifts.”
McEllrath said, “The men and women who work the
docks up and down the West Coast can’t fix the current supply-chain
failures, and industry experts know it. The irony of
PMA’s slowdown allegation is that, in addition to dishonestly blaming
workers for current congestion problems, it obscures the fact that PMA-member companies are working behind the scenes to trigger labor disputes
in order to cut labor costs and consolidate more control over workers
on the docks. We’ve seen all this before. Our singular focus, at this
moment, is getting a good contract for the members of the ILWU. I think
we’re almost there.”
PMA detailed ILWU practices it said has contributed to congestion issues including limiting the number of yard crane operators in Los Angeles and Long Beach. In the Pacific Northwest, it said ILWU slowdowns have reduced productivity by as much as 60 percent and “created a meltdown that has backed up cargo for weeks. Now the ILWU has stepped up slowdown activity at the Port of Oakland, reducing productivity to 50 percent of normal. As a result of ILWU slowdowns, crops are rotting, products aren’t getting to customers, contracts are being canceled, local employees are getting furloughed and businesses are future diverting shipments away from the West Coast.
“Had the union agreed to extend the now-expired contract, we could have let an arbitrator rule on the slowdowns. But not having a contract extension is like playing a football game without a referee. All the while, the West Coast ports are losing their competitive edge in an environment that will only become more challenging with the opening of the expanded Panama Canal next year,” said PMA.
Shipping executives expressed some puzzlement over the ILWU call for involving the PMA board.
McKenna and McEllrath negotiate face to face, and industry executives say while members of the PMA board of directors do not participate directly in the negotiations, they are in near daily contact with McKenna to advise him, most recently on Monday.
“Our Board and Coast Committee members, who represent carriers and terminal operators, have been intimately involved in these negotiations – starting in the months leading up to the contract talks and in the seven months since talks began,” the PMA said. There are also area steering committees that focus on local issues.
One executive said it would not make sense to have board members directly involved in the talks, saying that he could not negotiate on behalf of his competitors and that he would not want them to negotiate on behalf of his company.
“That is why you have a PMA and one voice speaking with the union,” he said. “I believe they are just trying to add confusion into the package. They are trying to circumvent our negotiating committee.”
PMA said it has “offered a ‘no-takeaways’ proposal that includes wage and pension increases on top of the ILWU’s robust compensation package. The average full-time ILWU worker currently earns in excess of $147,000 and is eligible for a pension with a maximum annual benefit of nearly $80,000 — current proposals would increase these even further. Additionally, PMA has offered to increase the pay guarantee program that enables registered workers to maintain full-time earnings during times of limited work opportunity.
“Given the lack of progress at the table,” it continued, “the ILWU’s continuation of debilitating work slowdowns and the impact those actions are having on businesses throughout America, it’s clear that mediation is required to resolve the many issues that remain at the bargaining table.”
