As expected, negotiations continued Wednesday on a new labor contract covering 20,000 dockworkers at 29 West Coast ports to replace a six-year one that expired at 5 p.m. PST Tuesday.


While there will be no contract extension, cargo will keep moving, and normal operations will continue at the ports until an agreement can be reached between the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) and the International Longshore & Warehouse Union (ILWU), according to a statement released by both sides late Tuesday. The contract covers 13,600 full-time, or registered, and about 6,400 part-time, or casual, dockworkers. The two parties have been negotiating since May 12.

 

“Both sides understand the strategic importance of the ports to the local, regional and US economies, and are mindful of the need to finalize a new coast-wide contract as soon as possible to ensure continuing confidence in the West Coast ports and avoid any disruption to the jobs and commerce they support,” the statement said.

The contract is between 72 companies that operate port terminals and shipping lines represented by the PMA and dockworkers represented by the ILWU. The parties have negotiated a West Coast collective bargaining agreement since the 1930s.


Manufacturers, retailers and distributors continue to urge both sides to reach an agreement as soon as possible to avoid disruptions to port services that occurred in September, 2002 when PMA effectively closed the ports for 11 days by locking out workers they claimed ILWU had staged a work slowdown. The ports only reopened after President Bush obtained a court order that sent the parties back to the negotiating table, where they reached an agreement six weeks later.

 

“Historically none of contracts have been resolved prior to the expiration date,” ILWU spokesman Craig Merrilees told The SportsOneSource Group Tuesday. “There has not been a strike by workers involving this contract in 43 years.”

 

Despite assurances that port operations will continue unhindered, congestion has increased in recent weeks at the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles as retailers, manufacturers and distributors pull forward imports to mitigate the risk of disruptions that might delay deliveries of back-to-school and fall merchandise. The two ports handle 40 percent of the nation's container imports.