ILWU representatives to review proposed contract later this month

If okayed, the PMA-proposed West Coast labor pact will be sent to union members for ratification.    Negotiators for the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and Pacific Maritime Association agreed on a tentative five year contract Feb. 20, but final approval of the deal is still some time away.
   The deal reached last month capped an over nine-month negotiation process that began on May 12, 2014.
   The ILWU’s Coast Longshore Committee will meet for a week, from March 30 through April 3, and its 90 delegates will review the tentative agreement. They will decide whether to recommend the pact to union membership.
   If the delegates recommend approval of the deal, the proposed contract will be mailed to each member of the ILWU.
   Local meetings will follow and finally a secret ballot ratification election will be held.
   No dates beyond the March 30 meetings have been set.
   In 2008, a tentative contract was agreed upon by the ILWU and PMA on July 28. The results of voting by rank and file ILWU members was announced in early October, with new pay rates going into effect on Oct. 4 of that year.