A labor dispute between terminal operators at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and their workers took another turn Tuesday, with operators being ordered to completely stop loading and unloading ships at night, starting Tuesday night.
News / Global Logistics
Cargo traffic at several of the biggest U.S. West Coast ports has slowed to near gridlock, negotiators for shipping lines and terminal operators for 29 ports said on Monday as contract talks with the dockworkers’ union remain strained.
Year-over-year import cargo volume at the nation’s major retail container ports is expected to continue to rise during most of the first half of 2015 despite significant congestion still impacting West Coast ports, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released today by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.
There is no post-holiday lull for the twin ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles. The ports continue to experience congestion that delays shipment of goods through Inland Southern California to the rest of the nation. Lee Peterson, spokesman for the Port of Long Beach, estimated there is currently an average of six container ships waiting to get into the ports. Those ships are likely carrying clothing to go on sale around Easter and building supplies for spring construction projects, he said in a phone interview.
With news coming this week that the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) and the International Longshore & Warehouse Union (ILWU) will work with the U.S. Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service in hopes of helping the sides find a way to come to an agreement over stalled labor negotiations, what happens now remains to be seen.
Allison Beck, Acting Director of the U.S. Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, issued the following statement today on the labor negotiations between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and Pacific Maritime Association (PMA):
The Acting Director of the U.S. Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (Allison Beck) released a statement on Monday night indicating that both the ILWU (International Longshore Warehouse Union) and PMA (Pacific Maritime Association) have agreed to mediation assistance.
A federal mediator is stepping in help try to resolve a labor fight that is threatening the flow of packages at ports along the West Coast.
Longshore & Shipping News
The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) said today that the PMA member carriers sitting on PMA’s Board of Directors need to come to the negotiating table so that direct and constructive dialogue between key decision makers can take place.
Brushing aside calls for federal mediation in prolonged contact talks with employers at 29 U.S. West Coast ports, the union for 20,000 dockworkers urged shipping executives on management’s board of directors to take a more active part in negotiations.