Indeed, he does not have to bother issuing an injunction if the ILWU is determined to prevent a strike and force through a sellout contract. SAN PEDRO, Calif.- May 11, 2021 - Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka met with the membership of International Longshore and Warehouse Union Locals 13, 63 and 94 to thank the dockworkers, clerks, and foremen for their unwavering commitment to processing the nation's essential cargo throughout the . Notify me by email when the comment gets approved. 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. Seattle's 175-foot Great Wheel and the Port of Seattle are seen on the waterfront on March 11, 2022 in Seattle, Washington. ILWUs Longshore Division identified safety, wages, benefits, jurisdiction and technology as priorities for the new contract. Together these contracts cover 1.3 million workersand there are hundreds of thousands more covered under the hundreds of smaller contracts that are also expiring. In a letter to Biden issued hours before the latest contract expired, about 150 trade groups ranging from truckers to agricultural, chemical and toy industries urged the administration to work with both parties to extend the current contract, negotiate in good faith and agree to avoid actions that further disrupt the ports. Jerome Roberts, GVP of marketing at supply chain consulting company Blume Global, told CNBC the one shift protest had no lasting productivity impact. In June, 876,611 Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units were moved, the best June in the ports 115-year history. Coal accounts for 45 per cent of B.C.s total mining revenue. In an open letter explaining ILWU . The employers are also apparently demanding longer working hours. Cargo is loaded and unloaded 16 hours a day, on average, Cordero said. In 1971, a 134-day strike paralyzed West Coast ports. The finger-pointing comes at a time when labor negotiations between the ILWU and the Pacific Maritime Association (which represents the terminals and ocean carriers) are about to enter a fourth month. The union, which represents an estimated 20,000 dockworkers at 29 ports in California, Oregon, and Washington, has not conducted contract negotiations with the PMA since 2014. You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked. Those concerns are reflected in Vilsacks recommendations. Along the Columbia River, those include the ports in Astoria, Longview, Vancouver, Portland, Kalama, St. Helens and Rainier. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. There is a long history of contentious labor negotiations and disruptions at the ports. Longshore and warehouse union on strike, suspending operations at Delta coal terminal Westshore is described as the largest coal export terminal on the west coast of North America, taking coal. With less than a week until the contract expires, now is the time for dockworkers to organize to fight to establish rank-and-file control. Tags: Associated Press, infectious diseases, inflation, prices, international trade, economy, California, business, health, Coronavirus, lung disease. The Pacific Maritime Association, representing employers, did not respond to two emails seeking comment. In addition, 5,793,621 TEUs moved through the port during the first seven months of the year up 4.6% over the same period last year. Look at other places in the United States, like Flint, Mich., Detroit, Mich., Youngstown, Ohio. Japans Imabari Shipbuilding Co. has decided to build a new 180,000 dwt dry bulk carrier using a low CO2 blast furnace steel material commercialized by Kobe Steel Corporation. In fact, the contract is a miserable sellout, containing 15 percent wage increases over 3 years, far below the rate of inflation. Feb 28, 2023 9:17 PM by More at Port of Stockton. Please try again. The news follows last months figures, when NWSA reported a 4 per cent drop in volumes owing to increasing congestion at ports. 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. All of the pensioners are helping us out with any questions we have about manning, or any other things we run across; we get their opinion all the time. I think the administration has made it clear that they expect a reasonable outcome.. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. But when PMA asked for another extension last year, ILWU members declined. This comes at a time when the ports, terminal operators, carriers, and even the new White House Supply Chain Taskforce have all been emphasizing the importance of investment and technology to provide long-term solutions to the backups in the supply chain. It wholly owns the subsidiary Westshore Terminals Limited Partnership, which runs the terminal. How a 1934 waterfront strike was a major turning point for West Coast labor By Nadine Jelsing (OPB) July 11, 2022 11 a.m. Eighty-three days during the summer of 1934 will be honored forever. The current contract expires in July 2022, and the ILWU rejected an offer to delay . The Pacific Maritime Association and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union will begin labor negotiations Tuesday for 22,000 dockworkers at 29 West Coast ports, including the U.S.' two . More at CNBC, The new Norton Cargo Terminal at the Port of Everett is now open. Watch David Norths remarks commemorating 25 years of the World Socialist Web Site and donate today. LOS ANGELES (AP) A contract between shipping companies and 22,000 West Coast dockworkers expired over the weekend. Westshore Terminals Investment Corp has a market cap of $1.86 billion. China's PLA Navy is recruitingfemale pilots for its carrier aviation program for the first time, the service announced last week. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. More in the Wall Street Journal, Port of Longview continued its record-breaking income streak as it closed out the second financial quarter of the year and prepared to enter its budget planning process this fall. Lines (MOL) and Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK), ONE will acquire a 51 percent stake in both TraPac and Yusen Terminals. West Coast longshore, employer contract talks, Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), West Coast longshore, employer contract talks hit a snag, impacting LA, Long Beach ports, San Pedros Fish Market on fast track for long-term temporary West Harbor spot, Port of LA oil terminal project will get full environmental review. The contract talks, which start Tuesday, take place in San Francisco on behalf of 22,000 dockworkers at 29 West Coast ports, including the nation's two busiest ports the Port of LA and the Port. Now, this industry can grow. The terminal operators bargain together, represented by PMA. Third, and most importantly, the strike was about job security -- not their . The port moved 785,843 twenty-foot equivalent units last month, topping the previous July mark, set last year, by .13%, data released Tuesday by the port showed. June 1, 2022 Kevin Baxter Logistics & Supply Chain While some issues that slowed supply chains beginning last year have eased, new ones keep popping up, with the looming cloud of a dockworker strike at U.S. west coast ports including Los Angeles and Long Beach on the horizon. Bloomberg reports that the PMA, whose board is largely made up of the ocean carriers, wrote to the ILA proposing a one-year extension citing the current difficulties in the supply chain and the importance of maintaining stable operations at this time. All rights reserved. Bridget McCrea Download this article in PDF format. MONTI: Those jobs would all be gone. The government's decision to allow entry is a rejection of concerted American pressure to deny access to the sanctioned vessels. The California grants include the Fishermans Terminal Piling Replacement Project in Eureka, the Outer Harbor Terminal Redevelopment Project in Oakland, the Port of San Francisco Amador Street Infrastructure Improvement Project, the Port of Stockton Rail Rehabilitation & Upgrade Project, and the Seawall Replacement Project in Crescent City. While it is in regular communication with the White House, the ILWU is maintaining radio silence with rank-and-file dockworkers. Omaha, Nebraska-based AGP, plans to expand the terminals export capacity from 3 million metric tons to 6 million metric tons. 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. The proposed Pier Wind facility would span up to 400 acres of newly built land, located southwest of the Long Beach International Gateway Bridge within the Harbor District. Disputes over union work at the port complicated longshore labor negotiations across the West Coast. Three years later, union members voted to accept a three-year extension for the contract to July 1, 2022, in exchange for increases in wages and pensions while maintaining health benefits at current levels. More at Transport Topics>, The Port of Stockton received $9.63 million for the Rail Rehabilitation & Upgrade Project. In March, four U.S. senators, all Republicans, sent a letter to President Joe Biden expressing concerns about the talks, suggesting that a lingering process could impact costs and the nations supply chain. More at KPBS, In coordination with the ILWU Coast Longshore Division, four ILWU workers spoke with NPR on the impacts of automation. The longshore and warehouse union at Westshore Terminals is on strike, suspending operations at one of Canadas largest and busiest ports for moving coal. Even "casual workers" those guaranteed no shifts begin at. No doubt, the Biden administration is holding such measures in reserve; it had briefly considered sending the National Guard to the docks in Los Angeles and Long Beach to work through a massive shipping backlog. Westshore is described as the largest coal export terminal on the west coast of North America, taking coal from B.C., Alberta, as well as the Powder River Basin and Montana. 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. The letter stressed that the groups are entering their peak season for imports as retailers stockpile goods for the fall holidays and back-to-school items. We encountered an issue signing you up. They are prepared to meet the union at the negotiation table expecting talks will get underway by the spring of 2022. 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4. Comments in the business press indicate that the PMA is pushing for major concessions from workers on the issue of automation, which it wants to use to render some of the highest-paid jobs redundant. Those economies, just completely disrupted. They are taking place against the backdrop of surging imports that left backlogs of ships anchored offshore, and declining exports. It gives insight to our newer members: In this situation, what did we do in the past? And the pensioners let us know. This project will allow us to accommodate AGPs growth and private investment here in Grays Harbor, increase international shipments of US grown and processed soybean meal, and sustain thousands of farming jobs throughout the Midwest, while creating new jobs for our community. In 2002, President George W. Bush used the Taft-Hartley Act to end a 10-day employer lockout of workers. According to the report, the slowdown resulted in reduced productivity at the Oakland and Seattle-Tacoma ports, but according to the CNBC Supply Chain Heat Map, operations at these ports have been in line with the ports' recent productivity and there have been no significant cargo handling issues recorded. 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. My News LA, The California Port of Hueneme reported a 28% increase in revenue and a 51% jump in loaded and empty volume in 2022, according to Kristin Decas, executive director. Sign up for free newsletters and get more CNBC delivered to your inbox. Beyond the issue at hand, Vilsack expressed the need for FMC to promote competition in the industry and to consider the carrier consolidation and alliances that has occurred in recent years. We have tirelessly been working to make improvements to the Port to ensure critical cargo is transported efficiently and safely, this grant will help enormously with the plans weve had in place for modernizing the Port. Kirk DeJesus, Port Director. However, Bidens preferred strategy is to suppress and prevent a struggle by dockworkers through the corporatist collaboration of the union with the port operators and the government. More at KING5, Port of Oakland Executive Director Danny Wan says the port has embarked on a plan to play to its strength as one of the leading agriculture export facilities in the world to soften the impact of COVID challenges of the past three years. Already, two of the 13 container terminals at the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports are automated, with plans for two more in progress. Published May 9, 2022 Edwin Lopez Managing Editor Mario Tama via Getty Images It's official: The International Longshore and Warehouse Union will begin its long-anticipated contract negotiations with the Pacific Maritime Association on May 10. The month of June has already seen port strikes in Germany and Greece, a truckers strike in South Korea, which virtually shut down the countrys ports, as well as the first national railway strike in decades in Britain. The National Labor Relations Board is expected to consider the matter in early November, with a decision coming shortly after that, the Journal of Commerce reported. The union counters that management improperly awarded work to another union. He points to a ship waiting to be unloaded. 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. One U.S. logistics manager recently told CNBC they were avoiding the Seattle/Tacoma Port by using the UP to Norfolk Southern rail route to the Port of Virginiawhere their cargo was loaded on a Hapag Lloyd vessel. Published May 9, 2022 11:48 PM by The Maritime Executive. These logistical workers earn about $41 per hour, a solid middle-class income. The company on Friday in a statement that the work stoppage will result in a complete suspension of operations at the terminal.. Seroka to ILWU: Thank You'. A similar project to upgrade a different track cost around $358,000 and was approved in May of 2022 after port officials stated that it would improve the railroads overall safety. Published November 2, 2022 Transportation KTVU FOX 2 Oakland longshoremen walk-off portends possible strike KTVU's Tom Vacar reports. The $20 million award comes from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) discretionary grant program, which received more funding under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed by Congress in 2021. The Pittsburgh-based company discovered the attack on June 26 and following an internal investigation realized malware was introduced as early as March 15, 2022. 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. The long-anticipated labor negotiations between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and their employers represented by the Pacific Maritime . Peter S. Goodman. "The general outlook is that it seems to be business as usual in terms of dwell times, except for Seattle's exports," Brazil said. Dockworkers have been working without a contract since July. A spokesperson for SSA declined to comment and referred all questions to the PMA, which did not respond to requests for comment. Got a confidential news tip? Performance & security by Cloudflare. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information and details on how to adjust your email settings. This year they delayed efforts at automation by a Port of Long Beach terminal operator, TTI, and before that also opposed efforts by AMP at the Port of Los Angeles.