Unauthorized distribution, transmission or republication strictly prohibited. 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. "Over the last few weeks, it appears productivity and port activity has been consistent respectively across the ports at Oakland, Seattle, Long Beach, and even Los Angeles, which recently had a labor slowdown. But a recent local contract gives workers some idea of what to expect from the union in spite of this silence. The strikers won a coastwide contract, union hiring halls and higher pay. More at The Economist, After two years of agriculture exporters enduring ocean carriers systematic neglect of exports in favor of higher value import cargo, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is offering key changes to the Federal Maritime Commissions (FMC) proposed rulemaking to define an unreasonable refusal to negotiate or deal with respect to vessel space accommodations. OAKLAND, Calif. - The Port of Oakland faces looming. More at Port of Long Beach, U.S. logistic managers are bracing for delays in the delivery of goods from China in early January as a result of canceled sailings of container ships and rollovers of exports by ocean carriers. Officials at the Port of Seattle-Tacoma told CNBC that last week there was a small number of picketers at Seattle's Terminal 5 protesting the terminal over using the Machinists Union instead of the ILWU to perform "cold ironing", a process where ships can use shore power while docked. Since May 10, 2022, labor negotiations have been ongoing between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), which represents more than 22,000 West Coast port workers, and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), which represents port terminals and ocean carriers. Some preview of the likely positions to be taken during contract negotiations between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), which started May 10 in could be gleaned from two video interviews recently conducted by Gene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles. The Maritime Executive. The Pacific Maritime Association argues that automation will actually will increase employment by enabling ports to move more cargo. The PMA also alluded to the fear in the industry that contract negotiations could lead to disruptions for carriers at ports that are already overwhelmed by the surge in imports. 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. "The data collected by our platform has consistently shown vessel turnaround time and dwell time have shown no meaningful shift in direction," said Roberts. What do you think dock workers should be fighting for? March 4, 2022. The Maritime Executive, Published Longshoremen are incensed and their refusal to work without a contract is not illegal. In an exclusive interview with Transport Topics, Wan says the COVID-19 pandemic caused a number of shippers to begin skipping their regular stops at Oakland because it was more profitable to unload Oaklands cargo at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and have it trucked 370 miles north, while those ships headed back to Asia to get more cargo as rates soared in 2020, 2021 and 2022. The Port of Portland, which oversees Oregons only marine container terminal, has received a $24.36 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to improve port infrastructure. "Everything is gonna stop. They're Here Here We Go Again We have entered into the final year of the current ILWU/PMA master contract, which will expire July 1st, 2022. The cost got passed on, as you might guess, directly to consumers, sticking it to American families and businesses because they could.. Westshore Terminals Investment Corp has a market cap of $1.86 billion. Logistics companies fear the latest round of accusations will only increase tensions for a supply chain and national port infrastructure already dealing with multiple labor concerns. Wednesday's closure was local to the Port of Oakland. Many shippers were nervously awaiting this moment. 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 Maritime Executive. Labor negotiations are about to enter a fourth month. No doubt the joint statement was worked out in close consultation with the White House. John Moore via Getty Images Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. But Mr. Adams responded in writing to questions about his background and objectives. A 10% raise across the board for the West Coast longshoremen would raise labor costs on the West Coast from $3.8 billion to roughly $4.2 billion. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. PUBLISHED: May 9, 2022 at 4:10 p.m. | UPDATED: May 10, 2022 at 7:56 a.m. Notify me by email when the comment gets approved. The company said it contacted the FBI soon after discovering the attack. 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. Since the program was announced on Oct. 25, 2021, the two ports have seen a combined decline of 92% in aging cargo on the docks. The PMA told Bloomberg that it has already submitted its first proposal to the ILWU. Biden hasnt gotten directly involved, although he met with ILWU and PMA and heard about negotiations during a June 10 visit to the Port of Los Angeles. Moreover, in spite of the joint communique declaring their mutual desire to avoid stoppages, there is no reason to believe that the PMA would not lock workers out at the first opportunity if they felt it suited their purposes. Feb 28, 2023 10:48 PM by No new talks, in fact, had been scheduled for October, though there are hopes they will resume next month, according to a source with ties to the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, who requested anonymity because the two negotiating parties have agreed to not publicly discuss the talks. 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 . 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. Theyre all gone on automated terminals. close collaboration with the Biden Administration, In warmongering speech, Biden lines up trade unions for US-NATO proxy war against Russia. Delayed cruise departure biggest pressure point in labour dispute at Seaspan, Seaspan tugboat workers start strike after 'impasse' in negotiations, Stressed forestry communities look for B.C. Port of Long Beach (POLB) announced Dec. 28 that its Channel Deepening Project is one of five navigation projects nationwide to receive federal authorization under the 2022 Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) that was signed into law on Dec. 23. Click to reveal The cause of the fire was under investigation by the Vancouver Fire Marshals Office. A welcome email is on its way. Total container volumes for the month dropped by 15.9 per cent to 260,572 TEU, with full imports declining by 30.4 per cent and full exports by 16.8 per cent year-over-year. 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. According to Vilsack, agricultural shippers over the past two years have continually dealt with broken export contracts, canceled bookings, inadequate receiving windows, and shortages of empty containers and other equipment. Last week, multiple reports say that several U.S. soybean producer groups are planning to help fund the construction of the terminal that would be used to ship soybean meal exports. Shippers often lobby, even beg, for these contract negotiations to start early, well before the current contract expires. This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. Throughout this entire time of the surge and cargo volume, weve brought more longshore members onto the docks to work all this cargo. They are taking place against the backdrop of surging imports that left backlogs of ships anchored offshore, and declining exports. "This is another hiccup and a lot of disputes that we've been having here on the waterfront and it just needs to be resolved," said Aboudi. OAKLAND, Calif. - The Port of Oakland faces looming problems amid labor unrest and a sudden work stoppage Wednesday. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. "The lockout lasted some 10 days." . Contracts are renegotiated every six years, and Cordero said most have concluded without disruptions. The reason that 14,000 longshoremen were able to take on the shipping industry is that they are an indispensable part of the supply chain; they are the gatekeepers of 29 ports that together. Say you have a good like grain, for example, and we might have a bad year of crops. The workers prevailed, and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union has been a powerful force on the docks ever since. An excerpt: The threat actor, which was not disclosed, accessed sensitive parts of the Wabtec environment, stole data and later posted onto an online leak site, according to the company. 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, said a joint statement from the Pacific Maritime Association and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union. Labor negotiations between dock workers and the West Coast port operators have hit a snag, with experts speculating that clashes over automation are partly to blame. After repeatedly alerting USDA, shipper and producer groups raised their concerns in comments to the FMC. MONTREAL -- Ottawa tabled on Tuesday morning a bill to end the strike of the 1,150 longshoremen at the Port of Montreal and impose arbitration, with substantial fines in case of non-compliance . Caravos Harmony left Port Elizabeth, South Africa on February 10 and got under way for Brazil. 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. In January, some 100 ships were waiting to get into the port complex, but that total is now down to 60 or even as low as 20 at times, Port of Long Beach Executive Director Mario Cordero said Tuesday. MONTI: Those jobs would all be gone. June 1, 2022 Bloomberg As the U.S.'s largest ports in California moved record amounts of cargo amid pandemic-induced supply chain bottlenecks, union dockworkers strengthened their indispensable role in the nation's logistics network. It wholly owns the subsidiary Westshore Terminals Limited Partnership, which runs the terminal. Westshore has been in negotiations since October 2021 with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 502 for a new collective agreement. It is roughly equal to its value in February 2020, before the pandemic struck. While the ILWU has insisted that they will not accept a contract that leads to further automation without compensation, decades of experience, including contracts in 2008 and 2014 which opened the door for automation, proves that this is not the case. Cordero said he hadn't seen any work slowdowns at the port and was optimistic that the current negotiations would end with a fairly quick resolution. 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. More at Transport Topics>, The Port of Stockton received $9.63 million for the Rail Rehabilitation & Upgrade Project. These logistical workers earn about $41 per hour, a solid middle-class income. 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