Agriculture shippers say new contract must have ‘improvements in port operations.’
Shipper groups and ports applauded the entry of a federal mediator into contract talks between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and Pacific Maritime Association.
The ILWU and PMA agreed Monday to ask for assistance from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service.
A fact sheet on mediation in a bulletin posted by Local 13 of the ILWU on its website sought to reassure its membership that “This is not bad news. We are still negotiating for a contract and we are optimistic that the mediator will help us make progress towards a contract.” It noted that mediation is voluntary and different from arbitration, where negotiating parties agree to allow a third party to impose a binding agreement.
“Federal mediators serve as neutral third party facilitators. Mediation is a voluntary process that may or may not lead to an agreement,” the bulletin’s fact sheet noted.
The Agriculture Transportation Coalition, a shipper group that represents exporters of farm and forest products, said the participation of the FMCS is “an essential step, as the injury caused by port labor slowdowns, walk-offs and disruption has rendered West Coast ports dysfunctional.
“Months ago exporters and importers asked the White House to get involved,” AgTC noted. “The result of the West Coast port disruption over the past 6 months has been hundreds of millions of dollars of lost sales, cargo damage, and lost customers to US agriculture, manufacturers, farmers, and retailers, not to mention lay-offs in each of these sectors. This disruption and injury continues today.”
Sandy Kennedy, president of the Retail Industry Leaders Association, said retailers welcomed the development and urged both parties to “work hastily to reach an agreement that prevents a shutdown and restores the free flow of cargo through West Coast ports. The current slowdown has stranded cargo offshore, which harms consumers unable to find the products they seek, retailers that lose sales and ultimately the economy at-large.”
Leaders from West Coast ports also applauded the development.
“The announcement shows that both sides understand the importance of arriving at a contract settlement,” said Port of Oakland Executive Director Chris Lytle. “The impasse has affected port operations up and down the West Coast and the sooner it’s resolved, the sooner we can resume the normal flow of trade in and out of the U.S.”
The Port of Tacoma echoed this sentiment in a statement posted on its website. “We are glad to see both parties agree to federal mediation,” the port said. “We hope contract issues are resolved quickly.”
Port of Long Beach Chief Executive Jon Slangerup said of the decision, “We urgently need a resolution to their long contract negotiations so they can join all of our industry stakeholders in restoring and improving productivity at all West Coast ports.”
The AgTC added that it “seeks from this mediation, not just any new contract between the ILWU and PMA. While that would provide temporary relief, it would not lead to improvements in port operations that are essential to meet the challenges facing West Coast ports and the importers and exporters dependent upon them.”
The group pointed to a letter it sent to the presidents of the ILWU and PMA last year that argued that if threats to the competitiveness of West Coast ports are not checked, “they will limit agriculture export access to global markets, and cargo volumes for your terminals and jobs.
“We hope the ILWU is not entering this mediation with the objectives of increasing cost of port labor (already the highest in the world; according to published contract terms, ILWU workers make an average of $147,000/year, with full medical – no copay, no deductible, no limit, plus pension, etc.), preventing full automation of the terminals, maintaining antiquated practices such as the hiring hall and closing terminals during lunch hours (long discarded in all other industries), and now expanding these costs and inefficiencies to chassis maintenance and repair.”
AgTC said specifically that chassis maintenance and repair “cannot be handled in the same way that West Coast port operations have been handled over the years” and included an account from one company that complained of the ILWU workers at terminals red-tagging chassis it had repaired and replacing new tires on its equipment with “junk” recaps on several occasions.
Shippers, ports applaud mediator involvement in ILWU-PMA contract talks
