SIMIC

US west coast ports are enduring the longest labour-related disruptions since 2015 as talks between port employers and dockers closing in on a full year without a contract, reports Bloomberg.

The two sides are clashing over how to divide carriers' pandemic-era profits in a market that's returned to rock-bottom freight rates.



The previous labour contract covering 29 ports from California to Washington State expired July 1, 2022. The International Longshoremen and Warehouse Union, representing 22,000 dockers, and the Pacific Maritime Association, which represents ocean carriers and terminal operators, have been negotiating since May 2022.



Until now, the PMA and ILWU have been quiet as they negotiate and port operations have been running relatively smoothly, with the exception of a few regional flareups during slow cargo periods that were brief and contained.



But labour shortages and other disruptions that shut or slowed terminals in Seattle, Los Angeles and Oakland have continued intermittently, the PMA said.



"Before we were seeing a lot of progress,¡± said Port of Long Beach executive director Mario Cordero. "Obviously there is an issue there that has caused some pause in the discussions.¡±



The stalemate was already starting to disrupt cargo flow, as LA and Long Beach say that six containerships were cancelled or delayed.



At issue now is a demand by the ILWU for a wage increase of US$7.50 per hour, for each year of the proposed contract. That would amount to a nearly 100 per cent increase in docker wages over the course of the proposed six-year agreement.



"The longshoremen want the type of increases that fully reflect the profitability that the carriers had earned during Covid as if that profitability was continuing - and it's not,¡± said Peter Tirschwell, vice president for global intelligence and analytics at S&P Global Market Intelligence.