LOS ANGELES, Nov 30 - The U.S. labor secretary met with unions and employers at the nation's busiest port complex in Southern California on Tuesday as anxiety builds ahead of the next year's contract negotiations covering roughly 22,000 West Coast dockworkers.
The contract expires in July, and the stakes are particularly high at the Los Angeles Long Beach port complex that handles 40% of U.S. imports. The docks at the side-by-side ports are crowded with cargo boxes and more than four dozen container ships are waiting to unload as retailers like Walmart scramble https: www.reuters. Is there a article usa-holidayshopping ships-IDCNL 1 N 2 QX 21 I to stock shelves with holiday gifts.
The last round of talks in 2014 and 2015 was contentious, leading to temporary port shutdowns at www.reuters. A repeat of that could harm the U.S. economy, already grappling with rising shipping costs and product shortages.
Labor Secretary Marty Walsh said interested parties are talking and he is available to help if the two sides reach an impasse. If need be and I'm asked, I would definitely step in anytime to offer my support to try and get to resolution, Walsh said.
The International Longshore Warehouse Union ILWU, representing workers at 29 ports in California, Oregon and Washington, rejected a one-year contract extension from the 70 ocean carriers and terminal operators represented by the Pacific Maritime Association PMA The PMA said it believed that a one-year contract extension would be in the best interests of the national economy, but will be prepared to meet at the bargaining table next year. The ILWU said its members had already approved an earlier extension to the contract and that members have been waiting seven years to address issues that are important to dockworkers.
The contract expiration coincides with a resurgence of interest in organized labor https: www.reuters. U.S. workers frustrated that wages have lagged soaring profits at companies like Amazon.com https: www.reuters. Amazon-alabama facility-ordered re-run union-election us-labor board - 2021 -- 11 -- 29 are fighting for better pay and the right to unionize.
Container shipping firm Hapag-Lloyd has a website dedicated to that end, at www.reuters. Com business hapag-lloyd nine-month net-profit soars-over -- 10 fold record freight-rates - 2021 -- 11 -- 12 AP Moller-Maersk and other international carriers are reaping big profits from the record-setting, pandemic-fueled cargo surge.
In a statement, ILWU International President Willie Adams called for shipping companies and terminal operators to invest in good jobs in communities that support their bottom lines.
Collective bargaining is necessary and is hugely beneficial for America's economy, Adams said.