The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) have issued a statement regarding the negotiations on a new contract covering nearly 20,000 longshore workers at twenty-nine U.S. West Coast ports. The negotiations have once again been put on hold.
No talks will take place from July 28 to August1, so that the ILWU can resume unrelated contract negotiations in the Pacific Northwest.
The PMA and ILWU will resume their contract negotiations on Monday, August 4, in San Francisco.
The previous labor contract covering nearly 20,000 longshore workers at 29 West Coast ports expired July 1.
While there is no contract extension in place, both parties have pledged to keep cargo moving.
The coast-wide labor contract is between employers who operate port terminals, and shipping lines represented by the PMA and dockworkers represented by the ILWU.
The parties have negotiated a West Coast collective bargaining agreement since the 1930s.
[mappress] Press Release, July 29, 2014