Wednesday, December 17, 2014
Top Story
Port officials: New labor contract for West Coast ports may soon be reached
A tentative agreement to resolve the West Coast longshoremen’s work slowdown may be reached soon, port officials of Tacoma and Seattle told the Washington Apple Commission.
"We hope there is a tentative agreement in place today or tomorrow to be discussed at the caucus next week and some sort of vote the week after that. Our hope is productivity would get back to normal. This is speculation," Dustin Stoker, director of operations for the Port of Tacoma, told commissioners during a conference call on Dec. 11.
A weeklong caucus of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union began Monday in San Francisco, and has reportedly already sent comments to the Pacific Maritime Association regarding a contract offer that employers put on the table on Thursday. No details of the offer or comments were available.
A contract agreement for West Coast dockworkers is expected soon, since the union loses much of its leverage once the holiday season is over.
Among many commodities affected, the Washington apple industry estimates it is losing tens of millions of dollars worth of exported apple shipments weekly due to the work slowdown. December and January normally are heavy shipment months for Washington apples to Asian countries in advance of the Chinese New Year in February. Apples are instead being diverted to an already full domestic market, lowering prices.
Even if dockworkers are fully back to work the week of Dec. 22, it takes time to clean up facilities, moving empty containers and such, and Stoker said it probably would be Jan. 15 before operations would be fully back to normal at most ports. Steve Balaski, director of operations at the Port of Seattle, agreed, noting that perishable commodities will be expedited as quickly as possible.
Automation is the main sticking point in negotiations, Stoker said. "Automation leads to jurisdictional discussions. That’s the heart of the issue," he said.
For more of the Capital Press story: www.capitalpress.com
More Newswire stories
McDonald’s Japan rations french fries due to West Coast port slowdown
Busiest shipping day volume up from last year
Virginia Port Authority cargo volume up 8 percent
11 die after fishing boat and cargo ship collide in Gulf of Suez
Home | The Magazine | Conferences | Port Handbooks | Newswire | Advertise | Ocean Schedules | Contact
CBN Archives | About CBN | Subscribe to CBN | Marine Fuels Conference | Southeast Freight Conference | Heartland Shippers’ Conference | Port Productivity Conference | Pacific Northwest Ports Handbook
Golden Gates Ports Handbook | Southern California Ports Handbook | Buy Handbooks | Subscirbe to Newswire | Newswire Archives | Upload Files