港口

The group representing shipping lines and terminal operators has condemned the West Coast dockworkers’ union for taking “its slowdown tactics to the bargaining table,” an accusation the union denies.

In their latest labor clash, the Pacific Maritime Association criticized the International Longshore and Warehouse Union for taking a 12-day Thanksgiving break from “big-table talks” and limiting negotiations to smaller committees during a time when the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, along with others up and down the West Coast, are facing unprecedented cargo shipment delays.

“While there are limited negotiations happening, it’s impossible to reach any coast-wide agreement without both parties meeting at the big table in San Francisco, and the ILWU eliminated that potential until Dec. 2 at the earliest,” the PMA said Monday. “Our view was and is that these negotiations require full attention by both sides; that these talks are too important to put off until Dec. 2 given the real impacts of the ILWU slowdowns. There’s a lot of work left to do, and the lack of urgency by the union to resolve existing differences is disappointing.”

ILWU spokesman Craig Merrilees fired back, denying PMA’s claims of slowing talks. He added that smaller committees are repeatedly used during negotiations to progress specific labor issues.

“Are we really worried about the size of committees?” Merrilees said. “What we care about is that progress is being made. It’s about getting a contract done as soon as possible.”

Since May, the PMA and the ILWU have been negotiating the terms of a new contract that would cover about 20,000 West Coast dockworkers. Their last contract expired in July.

While both sides have been mum on what issues are on the table, they vowed that there would be no business disruption while they hammered out an agreement.

But earlier this month, PMA accused the ILWU of work slowdowns, saying that dockworkers are working at half-speed at some ports and not dispatching qualified ILWU crane operators who could place containers on trucks and trains.

The ILWU has denied PMA’s slowdown allegations, blaming the union for long-standing issues that have caused the congestion at ports, including the lack of available chassis that occurred after carriers decided to shift the responsibility of providing chassis to a different operator.

Several politicians and industry associations have urged both sides to reach a contract resolution quickly and have even asked President Barack Obama to intervene by exercising the use of a federal mediator. Customers such as toy companies and fruit explorers have been unable to receive products or deliver perishable goods in a timely manner because of the congestion. Trucks have waited in lines for as many as seven hours at port terminals, waiting for a container. Some return empty-handed.

“Going into this holiday season, our ports are already dealing with issues, such as bigger incoming ships, chassis shortages and deficient roads in our freight gateways,” members of the Congressional PORTS Caucus wrote in a letter last week to the heads of PMA and ILWU.

“A fair and equitable conclusion of the ongoing West Coast labor negotiations would allow the stakeholders to work together to formulate solutions to our congestion problems.”

Source: Long Beach Press Telegram