Apparently the negotiations between the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) and the International Longshore Workers Union (ILWU) are not going well over wages.
Some peripheral issues have been settled, but union workers want a share of the massive profits generated by the container carriers during the COVID time. PMA represents ocean carriers and terminal operators in the negotiations, and some terminals are controlled or dominated by a carrier or a group of them.
I think that is appropriate. Anyone’s analysis of the labor economics of unions will indicate that unions only have occasional times when they have any leverage over their terms of employment. This is one of them.
They should be expected to bargain hard for wage increases because they have not had a new contract since 2015. A lot of water has gone under the bridge, including massive profits for ocean liner firms. Longshoremen played a large part in the successful import and export of all those containers.
The PMA has not had a good record of conducting these negotiations, sometimes playing hardball when their sponsors would have liked a little softer approach. It’s true that the ILWU is known for its intransigence also.
But now the PMA should make a realistic offer. Inflation is high, there’s no prospect of it moderating very much very soon, and there are all those past years to make up for. Longshoremen deserve to be paid fairly for their work in the light of present, and possibly future, economic conditions.
These incidental stoppages for short times are just warnings. Neither side should want a general strike, because the new increases in West Coast shipping, after a long decline, are just emerging. It’s true some traffic has left for the East Coast, but the facts are that West Coast ports that operate well are still the fastest and most reliable way to ship to America from the Far East. If they are seen as reliable, traffic will return.
Time to step up and make an offer longshoremen are likely to accept.
Greg Miller Sunday, June 04, 2023
West Coast container ports hit as labor talks take ominous turn
Supply Chain and Logistics 