USA: Tentative Deal on Health Benefits Reached, ILWU Says

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the US Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) said Tuesday that they had reached a tentative agreement on terms for health benefits, subject to agreement on the other issues in the negotiations.

According to ILWU, the parties have agreed not to discuss the terms of this tentative agreement as negotiations continue.

Maintenance of health benefits (MOB) is an important part of the contract being negotiated between employers represented by the PMA and workers represented by the ILWU.

The contract being negotiated covers nearly 20,000 longshore workers at 29 the US West Coast ports.

Longshore workers who load grain in the U.S. Pacific Northwest export terminals voted to ratify a new collective bargaining agreement with several multinational grain companies. The contract will be in effect until May 31, 2018.

The previous agreement expired at 5 p.m. on July 1, 2014.

Talks began on May 12 and are continuing.