Maritime association, ILWU reach tentative agreement that reignites West Coast port activity

Cory Bilicko
Managing Editor

Port activity along the West Coast was finally re-energized last weekend after dock workers and shippers reached a tentative, five-year agreement late Friday, Feb. 20 that ended, at least for now, a months-long dispute between them.
U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez flew to San Francisco last week to intervene in the negotiations between the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) since pressure in recent weeks had been growing as each party faulted the other for the slow movement of billions of dollars of cargo across docks at 29 seaports along the coast that comprise a vital trade link with Asia. A contract between the PMA and the ILWU had expired July 1, 2014, leading to months of negotiating that had yielded no resolution.
“After more than nine months of negotiations, we are pleased to have reached an agreement that is good for workers and for the industry,” said PMA President James McKenna and ILWU President Bob McEllrath, in a joint statement. “We are also pleased that our ports can now resume full operations.”
Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia called the agreement “great news” for the city and the country.
“I want to personally thank…President [Barack Obama] and the Secretary of Labor for their effective intervention and leadership in helping the parties reach a resolution,” Garcia said in a statement released the same day the agreement was reached. “I also want to thank my colleagues, the port city mayors, for their persistent engagement in this process, and the shippers and dockworkers for reaching this agreement. This was a challenging time for everyone, but we’ve made it through, and a contract will be signed shortly. That means our port can get back to being the economic engine of Long Beach and the United States, and businesses across the nation can get the goods they need.”
Port of Long Beach Chief Executive Jon Slangerup also thanked Obama and Perez, as well as federal mediator Scot Beckenbaugh, in a statement. “We know that the marine-terminal operators, longshore workers, truckers, railroads and others will be extremely busy as they work to clear out the massive backlog of cargo at all of the West Coast ports, including Long Beach,” Slangerup said.
During a press conference Monday afternoon aboard the Battleship USS Iowa in San Pedro, Mayor Garcia was joined by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, during which time the two announced plans for their cities’ ports to collaborate on several initiatives designed to address the changing dynamics of seaborne trade and the effects of those changes on cargo passage through the country’s largest trade gateway.
The two ports recently presented a new working agreement to the Federal Maritime Commission that clarifies and broadens their current pact. The proposed update, which underwent a public-comment period that ended Wednesday, enables the ports to work together on strategies that are beneficial to both ports in supply-chain logistics, marketing, environment, security and legislative advocacy.
“Today, we celebrate that Los Angeles and Long Beach are back to work,” Garcetti said during the press conference. “We celebrate that these great American ports that are the engine of a great American economy, at a moment when world trade is growing and…when we should benefit, are finally doing what we do best— moving imports and exports through the most dynamic point on the globe for international trade. This means millions of jobs across the country. This means billions of dollars. And we are so proud to be here today, at America’s number-one port complex, to say that we got the job done.”
Garcetti said that the parties involved in the negotiation process realized that the agreement was “bigger than any one of us” and that it was about the economic security of the country— “making sure that that small-shop owner had the goods she needed to sell on Main Street, that the farmers that are in the Central Valley could export those great California goods around the world, that we looked at the jobs that are here on the docks— that are close to the docks and that are far away from the docks but are dependent on the docks— and made sure that they got moving.”
At Monday’s press conference, Garcia said people from around the globe have been pleased with the news of the agreement. “We’ve heard from all sorts of folks from across the country and the world, whether it was comic-book retailers…to people waiting for televisions, to cars, to all sorts of products that were out there on these ships,” Garcia said. “From our office in City Hall in Long Beach, [if] you look out on to the ocean, you see, probably, almost 20 ships that are waiting to get into the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles.”
Warehouse Union Local 13 President Bobby Olvera Jr. said that now that “the rhetoric and the negotiations” are over, it is time for those on the docks to get to work.
“It’s time for the longshoremen, the clerks and the walking bosses in Southern California to show why we are the greatest work force in the world,” he said. “When permitted to do our jobs, we move containers, break bulk cargo, autos, cruise ships, Chilean fruit better than anybody in the world— bar none. And we’re committed, not only now, but long-term, to make sure these cans move, to make sure our communities move, and to make sure the economy moves nationally.”
The union leader commended Garcia and Garcetti as a team and described them as being 100-percent behind the port work force as well as the companies involved because they understand that the various entities must work together to “make these ports move.”
“So, with that, I want to give you a commitment from the 7,000 members of Local 13,” Olvera said. “If you’re listening to this in Connecticut or back east, buried in snow, your goods are on the way. We’re going to work seven days a week, around the clock, to get those containers moved, to get the cargo on the shelves, and, as I told my son Aidan this morning, we’re going to make sure the Easter Bunny visits everybody in the United States this year.”
PMA Vice President Chad Lindsay also attended Monday’s event, and he said that, in the coming weeks, his organization will submit the tentative agreement to its members for their review and approval.
“The deal reached Friday in San Francisco is an important step in returning operations to normal in this important port complex,” Lindsay said. “Our focus now is getting cargo moving, working through the back log and getting containers unloaded and on their way to customers, as well as getting exports on the ships and off to international markets. We know there is a lot of work to do. There have been significant impacts for many, and we haven’t lost sight of that. We appreciate everyone’s patience as we do our part to get things back to normal, and we will continue to do what we can to ensure the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles remain an important destination for cargo into the future.”
Also at the press conference was U.S. Rep. Janice Hahn (D-CA 44th District), who founded the Ports Opportunity, Renewal, Trade and Security (PORTS) Caucus in Congress. She thanked all parties engaged in the dispute for “staying at the table” to reach a resolution.
“This agreement benefits the workers,” Hahn said. “This benefits businesses. This benefits consumers across this country. And those of us who live and work right here in the port community— everybody we know either works on the docks, is married to somebody who works on the docks [or] has a family member who works on the docks. So our economy in our local community is completely dependent on what goes on in these docks. But it was interesting for me, as a congressmember, to realize, finally, that the rest of the country began to understand the importance— the national significance— of the West Coast ports.”
Hahn said that, although it was unfortunate that it took this “crisis” to bring more awareness to the rest of the country, she predicts that more members of Congress will be interested in joining the PORTS Caucus now.
“I was getting calls from every congressmember who represented every state in this great country who was worried about getting the docks up and running again,” she said, adding that she is committed to fight for the money collected at the ports to return to the ports. “This week, I am testifying before the Budget Committee in Congress to make sure that that Harbor Maintenance Tax that is collected at our ports is returned to the ports, and I’m also going to fight for my bill, which will help to fund a national freight network so that we can make sure that, while you have a great partnership going forward, that I will work to fund our freight network so that we can move these goods efficiently and effectively across the country.”
Another congressmember was also aboard the ship Monday to celebrate the agreement. In his remarks, U.S. Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-CA 47th District) emphasized the importance of partnerships in reaching resolutions, and he said that people in other parts of the country ask him what it is about the West Coast that facilitates such cooperation.
“It’s not that we don’t struggle,” Lowenthal said. “We struggle as hard as anybody else. We put up what we really believe, but we are all about partnerships. We are all about, at the bottom line, making sure that we protect the finest…group of workers in the world, in our ports, the best businesses in the world, the best leadership that we have here, the cooperation between the cities.”
Lowenthal said he applauds the PMA and ILWU for their diligence in negotiations.
“You either come out stronger or weaker, and we are demonstrating that we are stronger,” he said. “We are using this as an opportunity to rebuild our infrastructure, to rebuild America, to really focus on what’s really important.”
Another elected official on board was 15th District L.A. City Councilmember Joe Buscaino, who represents San Pedro. He said that two months ago, his 6-year-old nephew Lucas called him, saying that the bedroom set he had been waiting for was stuck “at the port,” and he wanted to know what was taking it so long to arrive.
“Friday night, I was pleased to call Lucas and tell him that his bedroom set is coming home,” Buscaino said. “And that’s one of many stories we hear— we’ve heard— the last several months.”
After the various dignitaries, including Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka, had addressed the media, Garcetti offered to accept questions from the press. One question focused on what assurances there will be that this kind of port labor dispute will not occur again.
“We are committed to making sure that we don’t put this to rest and then get distracted by other things for four years,” Garcetti replied. “I am committed, and I know Mayor Garcia is as well, and we talked to the Labor Secretary about next steps after ratification to convene parties and to figure out what’s broken with the model, even on our negotiations. How can we help all these issues— from arbitration to efficiency of our goods— to get out in front of this for the first time, with two new mayors, two new port directors, an aliance of mayors, and a West Coast alliance, quite frankly, that knows that we have to broaden, I think, the parties’ perspectives to get things in place now?”
Garcetti used the relationship between car manufacturers and the United Automobile Workers (UAW) as a model for how two entities can work together to reach accord on issues.
“Today, the UAW is a union that sits at the table and makes decisions with Ford Motor Company, and Ford Motor Company makes decisions with the union,” Garcetti said. “And they make tough decisions together, and they have labor peace, and they’re able to move forward, and our car industry has rebounded. That is the sort of model we want to see here in place.” ß