A refreshing sign of progress announced in a joint statement on Tuesday which stated that both sides have come to an agreement on health benefits – one of the biggest issues of these negotiations. This agreement is tentative and hinges on agreements about other issues but this is seen as a major step forward in these seemingly endless negotiations.
The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) announced today that they have reached a tentative agreement on terms for health benefits, subject to agreement on the other issues in the negotiations. The parties have agreed not to discuss the terms of this tentative agreement as negotiations continue…
Maintenance of health benefits (MOB) is an important part of the contract being negotiated between employers represented by the PMA and workers represented by the ILWU. The contract being negotiated covers nearly 20,000 longshore workers at 29 West Coast ports. The previous agreement expired at 5 p.m. on July 1, 2014. Talks began on May 12 and are continuing.
Read more here from Journal of Commerce
photo credit: Lance Cunningham via photopin
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