On May 9, a broad coalition of industry trade groups sent a
letter to the heads of the Pacific Maritime Association and International
Longshore & Warehouse Union urging that a new labor contract be completed
in an expeditious manner.
The letter, which was sent by dozens of groups, including
the Retail Industry Leaders Association, American Trucking Associations, the
California Trucking Association, Agriculture Transportation Coalition and Toy Industry
Association, comes a month after the National Retail Federation sent its own
letter to the PMA and ILWU urging a quick contract agreement.
The union and management are beginning talks to extend the
current six-year labor contract, which ends June 30.
“Failure to reach an agreement will have serious economy-wide
impacts,” the letter, which a total of 67 groups signed off on, reads in part.
“The potential for disruptions in the flow of commerce at West Coast ports is
creating uncertainty in a fragile economic climate and forcing many businesses
to develop contingency plans that come at a significant cost to jobs and our
economic competitiveness.”
The letter was spurred by a history of contentious talks
between the PMA, which represents management, and ILWU, which represents about
13,600 port employees in California, Oregon and Washington. Both the 2008 and
2002 talks weren’t resolved until after the contracts’ expirations, and in
2002, the PMA launched an employer lockout that shut down the West Coast ports
for 10 days and resulted in an estimated $1 billion-per-day loss to the
industry.
“We urge you to stay at the negotiating table until a deal
is reached even if negotiations extend beyond the current contract expiration,”
the organizations’ letter states.
