Excerpts from ‘West Coast dockworkers reject extension of US labour contract’ in Lloyd’s List:
The two sides are scheduled to begin negotiations for a new labour contract in the coming year, with a deadline of July 1 next year.
This contract, negotiated in 2014/15, was earlier extended to 2022 at the request of the PMA and approved by a vote of ILWU dockworkers — the first-ever extension in the union’s 83-year history.
“In this context of hand-over-fist profit making, PMA cites current supply chain issues as a basis to seek another extension to the Pacific Coast Longshore & Clerks Agreement, in addition to the one they received in the prior bargaining cycle,” said [ILWU International President Willie] Adams.
He cited the successful efforts of dockworkers to keep the supply chain going during the pandemic, noting Mr McKenna’s praise for the “daily dedication of thousands of US west coast longshore workers” as being “in large part” responsible for the “ports’ resilience” during the pandemic.
“We will see you at the bargaining table in the upcoming year, and we are confident that both parties, who have been negotiating contracts together since the 1940s, can handle the task ahead,” he said.