Talks resumed this week between the two sides in the protracted contract negotiations between longshore workers and employers in the Pacific Maritime Association.
“I will reassure the public and this commission,” said Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka on Wednesday, June 7, during the commission meeting, “that the two sides returned back to the table in San Francisco yesterday and are working through a myriad of issues that are extremely important to getting this collective bargaining agreement done.”
Seroka said acting U.S. Secretary of Labor Julie Sue and her staff “continue to work around the clock with both sides individually and collectively trying to see resolution to this as fast as possible.
“We all understand the cargo has moved away from us in part because of import and exporter trepidation’s about labor disruptions,” he added, but saying there have “really only been two days” in 13 months where a full workforce wasn’t on the job.
Seroka said talks “broke down between the two sides in their 13th month of dialog” last Thursday, June 1.
While terminals reportedly were back up and running in Los Angeles and the neighboring Port of Long Beach on Wednesday, the Marine Exchange of Southern California reported a rash of ship delays late Tuesday night with reports that there were a lack of lashers — longshore workers who help load and offload cargo.
A labor shortage was cited as the cause.
Earlier in the week, two terminals at the Port of Long Beach and one at the Port of Los Angeles were shuttered during day shifts, but opened later as reports came in about some work shortages.
The union issued a statement on June 2 saying, “The ILWU remains committed to negotiating a good agreement for ILWU workers,” saying that PMA carriers and terminal operators made “historic profits” during the pandemic.
The PMA, in a statement issued late Monday, said work disruptions by the union had caused slowdowns at ports…
Read the full article here