Talks between the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) broke down Tuesday over the issue of Container Royalties (supplemental wages). A strike now appears likely when the current contract expires on December 29. Below is a recap of the situation.
News / Supply Chain Alerts
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) provided guidance for claiming drawback on imported goods that were damaged or destroyed during Hurricane Sandy. If duties and taxes were paid and the goods are either exported or destroyed, the goods may qualify for a duty drawback refund under 19 U.S.C § 1313(c).
The negotiating teams representing employers at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach released the following statement Tuesday, December 4, regarding the status of negotiations with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 63 Office Clerical Unit (“OCU”): “Representatives of the harbor employers and OCU officers reached agreement tonight on terms of a new labor contract, ending the OCU’s eight-day strike at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Longshoremen who had been honoring the pickets will return to work in the morning.”
A coalition forty-one associations representing US manufacturers, farmers, wholesalers, retailers, and transportation and logistics providers wrote President Obama and the Congress requesting federal intervention to reopen the nation’s busiest seaport complex. The Coalition urged the President “to take immediate action and use whatever means necessary, including Taft-Hartley, to get labor back to work in the nation’s largest port” as the strike enters its seventh day.
The talks between the Los Angeles/Long Beach Harbor Employers Association, a group representing 14 steamship lines and terminals, and clerical workers represented by the International Longshore Workers Union Local 63 Office Clerical Unit (OCU) broke down last week. Below is a recap of the situation and information on the status of each terminal.
Associated Press
Striking workers shut down the largest terminal at the Port of Los Angeles for a second day on Wednesday, ignoring an arbitrator’s order to return to work and raising the possibility of a larger job action that could paralyze the nation’s busiest port complex.
President Obama became the first sitting U.S. president to visit Myanmar, also known as Burma, where he praised the country’s progress in moving toward democracy and called for further reforms. Ahead of President Obama’s visit, the Treasury and State Departments announced that they were waiving the ban on imports from Burma, although the importation of certain jades and rubies is still prohibited.
TruckingInfo.com
Hurricane Sandy could knock out power and flood highways in heavily populated areas such as New York City and Washington, D.C., as it comes ashore today, and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has declared a regional emergency, allowing for exception from some regulations for motor carriers providing emergency materials.