Industry groups urge ILWU, employers to begin 2019 contract negotiations now

Groups representing shippers and other businesses say they want to avoid a repeat of the disruptions and slowdowns at West Coast ports that contributed to severe cargo congestion during the 2014-2015 talks.    Groups representing shippers and other businesses are urging the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and employers to begin early contract talks in order to “avoid a repeat of the disruptions and slowdowns that occurred during the 2014 contract negotiations.”
   In a letter dated March 15, 113 trade organizations asked ILWU President Robert McEllrath and James McKenna, chairman and chief executive officer of the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), “to begin early discussions on either a contract extension or a new contract with the goal to conclude negotiations before the current contract expires on June 30, 2019.”
   Groups signing the letter included the National Retail Federation, Agriculture Transportation Coalition, National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America, American Trucking Associations, National Association of Manufacturers, and American Association of Exporters and Importers.
   They say while they are encouraged by signs the ILWU and PMA “recognize the negative economic impact of disruptions and slowdowns, we also know there will be important and difficult issues for both of you to resolve during the next set of negotiations.”
   “All the more reason, we believe, for those talks to begin as early as possible in order to lay the groundwork for a new contract, or contract extension, without major disruption,” the groups wrote.
   In 2014, the contract talks began on March 12, and continued for nearly a year, well past the end of the prior contract expiration date of June 30, 2014, until a deal was finally reached on February 20, 2015. Even so, the agreement was not ratified by ILWU members until May 22 of last year.
   In the past, the two sides found an early start to talks did not accomplish much. Before the last round of contract talks McKenna recalled the two sides had met beginning in mid-March, but that nothing got done until the beginning of June.
   “The parties felt no pressure to move. It was a lot of stalemate, a lot of frustration, a lot of nothing getting done,” he said. “We started early, and we did not get done early; we will never get done early.”
   But in their letter, the 113 trade organizations said, “We believe a new model for future negotiations needs to be developed, one which stresses early and continuous dialogue.”
   “In addition, we would like to see both of you pledge to avoid actions that would slow, stop, or disrupt cargo movement during negotiations,” the groups said. “At a minimum, we urge you to maintain the arbitration mechanisms in the existing contract for the duration of the negotiations, even if the contract expires before a final agreement is reached.”