Port Management Claims Unrest Has Shut Down Port of Seattle
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The Pacific Maritime Association, the management organization representing 29 West Coast Ports and warehouses, claims that significant labor unrest by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union has shut down the Port of Seattle.
In a statement released on Twitter June 9 the PMA accused the ILWU of “coordinated and disruptive work actions,” related to the union’s contract negotiations.
“On the second and third shift yesterday (June 9), work slowdowns directed by ILWU officials brought ground operations at marine terminals to a halt, resulting in longshore workers being sent home. On the first shift today (June 10), the ILWU refused to dispatch any longshore workers to container terminals,” the statement said, specifically referencing the Seattle facility. “As a result, the Port of Seattle is shut down, leaving American exports sitting idle on the docks.”
The ILWU, with its 22,000 members, and PMA have been in nearly yearlong contract talks in San Francisco and as part of those talks, the two sides have agreed to a formal news blackout. But with management making a statement on operations at Seattle, the union’s leadership released a statement denying the accusation, saying that it “remains committed to bargaining a contract,” while accusing the PMA of using the media in an attempt to influence the process. “Despite what you are hearing from PMA, West Coast ports are open as we continue to work under our expired collective bargaining agreement,” ILWU President Willie Adams said.
ILWU Is Committed to Negotiating a Fair and Equitable Agreement and Calls on PMA to Do the Same
SAN FRANCISCO, CA (June 10, 2023) – The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) remains committed to bargaining a contract that is fair and equitable and represents the… — ILWU Coast Longshore Division (@ilwulongshore) June 10, 2023
The Port of Seattle, along with the nearby Port of Tacoma, are operated jointly by the Northwest Seaport Alliance. Seattle is one of the leading maritime facilities in North America and it is one that the agriculture industry relies on to ship produce and grain. An extended shutdown could be devastating to the economy.
The NWSA is the country’s second-largest gateway for refrigerated containers moving products in cold storage, including french fries, meat, dairy, apples and fish. It is the fourth-largest container gateway in North America.
The two ports handled $70 billion of waterborne trade with 180 trading partners globally in 2022. Marine cargo operations at NWSA facilities support over 58,000 jobs and drive $12.4 billion in economic activity in Washington state. Officials say an estimated 40% of jobs in the State of Washington are tied to trade, much of it with nations including China, Japan, Vietnam, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and India.
Bingham
Earlier Transport Topics reported that management and labor had made progress on several issues, but economist Paul Bingham, the director of global intelligence and analytics with S&P Global Market Intelligence, said the union is sending the message that it does not intend to accept a status quo contract with management, especially after its members worked continuously during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It has gotten late in the negotiations, and circumstances have clearly changed with the PMA membership and the foreign steamline owners, and they are in a much different position now than they were when the contract expired a year ago,” Bingham said. “The ILWU is trying to come at the negotiations, understandably so, from the position that many of these terminal operators are flush with profits that they had back during the pandemic, but rates have fallen tremendously, and they don’t have the same amount of money, but the longshoremen are assuming they can negotiate greater wage increases than the steamship companies and terminal operators will agree to.”
June 12, 2023
UPDATE ON WEST COAST PORT OPERATIONS
Yesterday at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the ILWU resumed its past practice of withholding lashers from terminals at the nation’s largest port complex, resulting in vessels having to miss their scheduled departures.… — Pacific Maritime Association (@WestCoastPorts) June 12, 2023
Major stakeholders who rely on the ports are becoming anxious as the negotiations drag on and labor unrest spreads.
On June 9, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce wrote the Biden administration urging the White House to name a federal mediator to get the talks to the finish line. The Chamber’s call is just the latest of a list of trade associations and shipping groups making similar pleas, including American Trucking Associations and the National Retail Federation. All are urging a much wider role by the president and Labor Department.
“The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is very concerned by the premeditated and disruptive service actions that are slowing operations at several major ports along the West Coast,” Chamber President Suzanne Clark wrote. “The best outcome is an agreement reached voluntarily by the negotiating parties. But we are concerned the current sticking point – an impasse over wages and benefits – will not be resolved.”
PMA’s charge of labor unrest is just the latest in an apparent escalation by the ILWU to move the talks forward.
Earlier this month and in May the port complexes at Los Angeles, Long Beach and Oakland suffered disruptions when ILWU Local 13 admitted some of its members did not show up for work.
“The rank-and-file members of the Southern California ILWU have taken it upon themselves to voice their displeasure with the ocean carriers’ and terminal operators’ position,” the union said in a statement. However, cargo operations in the ports continue as longshore workers remain on the job to move the nation’s cargo, as they have done valiantly for decades.”
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