West Coast Ports: Most Now Have Normal Operations Most West Coast ports were busy with activity this week as full crews were ordered by the marine terminals. The ILWU dispatch halls are filling all of the orders.  Craig Merrilees a union spokesman said: “ILWU members up and down the coast are working to load and unload vessels as quickly and safely as possible.”  The PMA … [Read more...]

Congestion Recovery: 2 to 3 Months Since the recent contract agreement with the ILWU and PMA, the long process begins for the West Coast ports to recover from the backlog of containers and vessels that have inundated their operations the past several months. From JOC: Industry experts agree that it will take months for Los Angeles, Long Beach, Oakland, Seattle and Tacoma … [Read more...]

Tentative Deal Reached for U.S. West Coast Ports The ILWU and PMA reached an agreement late on Friday February 20th. After more than nine months of bargaining, there is a contract agreement for five years - though the details of the agreement were not yet available. The contract must be ratified and the process could take several weeks. ILWU President Robert McEllrath … [Read more...]

West Coast Ports: US Labor Secretary Says Reach Deal or Negotiate in DC From JOC: U.S. Labor Secretary Tom Perez on Thursday told the ILWU and PMA that they have until Friday to reach a contract or they’ll have to negotiate in Washington D.C. Negotiators for the ILWU and the PMA on Friday were separately reviewing the details of the latest contract proposal and … [Read more...]