Rhetoric continued to heat up Monday between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), which have failed to negotiate a new contract governing working conditions and benefits for 20,000 dock workers that handle container cargo arriving at 29 West Coast ports.
The ILWU issued a rare press release Monday demanding for the first time in seven months of negotiations that PMA member carrier executives 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.
“Both sides need the right people in the room to get things finalized,” said Robert McEllrath, ILWU President and Chairman of the Union’s Negotiating Committee. “Sure, my counterpart, Jim McKenna, has been involved in negotiations from the start, but all the decisions are made by the carriers sitting on PMA’s Board of Directors.”
The PMA, which represents employers at America’s 29 West Coast ports, shot back quickly with its own statement.
“The ILWU’s press release today underscores the need for federal
mediation in these negotiations.
Unfortunately, the characterization that the PMA and ILWU have only a ‘few issues’ left to resolve is
inaccurate. Significant issues remain unresolved, including wages, pensions,
jurisdiction and work rules. Further,
the ILWU’s escalating
rhetoric on congestion is nothing more than a smokescreen for its slowdown activities.
“The only major coast-wide issue on which we’ve reached tentative agreement is the health
care plan already one of the most generous in America. Even with the
tentative health care agreement identified by the ILWU as its #1
priority when negotiations began in May
the Union has engaged in debilitating
work slowdowns over the past two months at terminals up and down the coast.
