With contract deadline expired, ILWU and PMA are expected to keep talking (West Coast port strike?)

Logistics Management ^ | 1 July 2014 | Jeff Berman, Group News Editor

[Vigilanteman]

As the calendar turns to July today, summer is fully intact, but the West Coast ports labor situation is still apparently chilly.

With the deadline for labor contract negotiations between ILWU (the International Longshore Warehouse Union) and the Pacific Maritime Association arriving aft midnight last night, the current status remains in flux as neither party is publicly commenting on their talks, which have been ongoing since May 12.

The ILWU represents nearly 14,000 port workers in California, Oregon, and Washington, with more than 40 percent of U.S. incoming container traffic moving through West Coast ports at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, according to industry estimates. The PMA represents shipping lines and terminal operators at 29 West Coast ports.

As previously reported, the ILWU’s president Bob McEllrath has told members to “hold the line,” and encouraged them to propose strategies to address the challenges ahead, including:

jurisdiction – efforts by the employers and other unions to “poach” Longshore jobs;

health Care & Pensions – increased employer & government pressure to cut benefits; and

automation employer efforts to replace workers with new technology

. . .

And the report added that the PMA claims that annual earnings for full-time longshoremen average $132,046 along with generous no-deductible health benefits, while the ILWU says that the current labor contract calls for $35 per hour for the most experienced workers, or an annual salary of $72,800 per year. And according to the PMA 2013 annual report, 34 percent of longshore workers get less than 1,600 hours of work per year or roughly 30 hours a week.

. . .

[Vigilanteman]

Overpaid and underworked jag-offs are now complaining that their hours are being cut. Who could have forseen that?