The Pacific Maritime Association is accusing the
International Longshore & Warehouse Union of reneging on an agreement to continue
normal operations while the two sides are engaged in contract negotiations, and
orchestrating work slowdowns at two Pacific Northwest seaports.
“The International Longshore & Warehouse Union has
initiated orchestrated slowdowns at the Pacific Northwest ports of Seattle and
Tacoma, severely impacting many of the largest terminals during the peak
holiday shipping season,” the PMA wrote in a Nov. 3 news release sent to media outlets.
Seattle and Tacoma together handle an estimated 16 percent
of containerized cargo on the West Coast.
The PMA, which represents more than 70 multinational ocean
carriers and maritime companies, and the ILWU, which bargains for nearly 13,600
workers at 29 ports along the West Coast from Washington to California, are in
the sixth month of negotiations for a new contract.
Initially, the PMA and ILWU set a July goal of reaching a
new agreement, and after the previous six-year contract expired July 1, the two
sides agreed to continue operations under the language of the expired deal,
according to the PMA. The ILWU, however, denies this.
“This is a bold-faced lie,” the union said in its own Nov. 3
statement regarding the situation. “No such agreement was ever made, nor could
it be made given the parties’ historic disagreement regarding the definition of
‘normal operations’ – a disagreement that has been the subject of arbitrations
for decades.”
The PMA says it has found that the slowdowns at two Pacific
Northwest ports have resulted in terminal productivity being reduced by an
average of 40 to 60 percent. For example, the Association contends, terminals
that typically move 25-35 containers per hour were moving only 10 to 18
containers, according to statistics compiled by PMA, which tracks historical
productivity based on the number of containers moved per hour for each vessel
at the same terminal.
The union contends that the PMA’s accusations are merely an
attempt to deflect responsibility from a growing congestion problem at major
West Coast ports and that they delay progress in negotiations.
