US-West port labor talks make waves again. On June 2, local time in the United States, as the International Terminal and Warehouse Union (ILWU), which represents dockers, is taking coordinated action, major ports in the West, including the Port of Los Angeles (LA) and the Port of Oakland (Oakland), were forced to close some terminal operations.
The Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) issued a statement on June 2, 2023 local time stating that the ILWU is taking coordinated and disruptive work actions, effectively shutting down operations at some terminals in the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach. Other local unions have taken similar work actions, closing or severely affecting terminal operations at the ports of Oakland, Tacoma, Seattle (Seattle) and Hueneme.
Industrial action escalates and Oakland Port appears to be worst affected
As of now, the dock labor negotiations between the PMA and ILWU have entered their 13th month. After a long stalemate, at the end of April, ILWU, representing more than 22000 dock workers from 29 ports, and PMA, representing 70 shipping companies and ports, issued a joint statement announcing significant progress in negotiations between the two sides. Negotiators from both sides are making final efforts.
Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka recently told a media briefing that "I believe a tentative agreement is imminent. Both sides have spent a lot of time at the negotiating table, and I am optimistic that we should soon hear good news."
However, all this changed last Thursday. Judging from the statements of the two sides, due to the big differences between the two sides on the salary increase, the negotiations last Thursday temporarily broke down. No talks were scheduled Friday either, and when they will resume is uncertain.
A person familiar with the said that all terminals in San Pedro Bay were affected to varying degrees on Friday, mainly due to ship operations. The Port of Oakland appears to be the worst affected, with international terminals closed for day shifts and operations at a domestic terminal in Matson limited. Some docks at the Port of Los Angeles are also suffering from labor shortages.
Third-party logistics provider ITS logistics vice president Paul Brashier said that his team in the United States local time on Friday at about 0700 to inform him of the Oakland problem, it is reported that the Los Angeles port outside the congestion in a few hours began to intensify, then the appointment was canceled.
Paul Brashier said, "Now, we are preparing for the worst-this may last at least until the beginning of next week to the middle of the week."
ILWU Local 13 is the largest chapter in the league, representing about 12000 longshoremen in Los Angeles and Long Beach. ILWU Local 13 said in a statement that employers "scoffed" at workers' wage demands ". Its rank-and-file union members "took the initiative to express their dissatisfaction with the position of the shipping companies and terminal operators."
All container terminals at the Port of Long Beach,, remain open, said Cordero Mario, executive director of the Port of Long Beach. While closely monitoring terminal operations, he urged the PMA and ILWU to continue to negotiate in good faith to reach a fair agreement.
He said, "The economy depends on keeping goods flowing through the San Pedro Bay port, which is the most important gateway for trans-Pacific trade. We are optimistic that our dockworkers and their employers can quickly resolve their differences."
Friday's ILWU protest comes as major retailers such as Walmart, Target and Amazon prepare for this year's school season and Christmas shopping season. At the same time, due to shippers' concerns that the breakdown of negotiations may cause goods to be stranded on ships or docks, goods originally shipped to the United States and West have continued to be lost to the United States and the United States and Gulf ports.
However, it is not uncommon for the ILWU to target individual terminals rather than close the entire port or all of the ports in the US-West. To some extent, this is not a "showdown" or expression of hostility with the employer, but a negotiation strategy, hoping to attract media attention to increase bargaining chips.
's union action on Friday showed that compromise remains a heavy obstacle and could lead to further escalation. ILWU believes that the shipping companies that made huge profits during the outbreak did not give the dockers the respect they deserved, and they asked the shipping companies and terminal operators to share more of the coveted profits made during the outbreak.
Willie Adams, president of the ILWU International, said in a statement that any reports that the talks had broken down were false and that negotiations were ongoing. He vowed to keep fighting for those "hero" members who kept goods in circulation during the pandemic.
Willie Adams said: "We are on track to achieve this, but it is important to understand that dockworkers during the pandemic kept the economy afloat and lost their lives as a result. We will not settle for an economic package that does not recognize the heroic efforts and personal sacrifices of ILWU members that have enabled the shipping industry to achieve record profits."
The current container shipping market conditions are far from the record-breaking days of the epidemic, and some liner companies in the first quarter of this year have even begun to lose money.
ILWU said: "Even if freight volumes return to normal in 2023, PMA members' revenues will still far exceed the pre-epidemic billions of dollars." This suggests that the current state of the shipping market will not change their expectations.
Source: Shipping Industry