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On Friday night, the Pacific Maritime Association and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union announced that they have reached a tentative agreement on a new five-year contract for dockworkers at 29 West Coast ports, according to a joint statement. No details were revealed.
"After more than nine months of negotiations, we are pleased to have reached an agreement that is good for workers and for the industry," said PMA President James McKenna and ILWU President Bob McEllrath in the statement. "We are also pleased that our ports can now resume full operations."
The press release acknowledged that the deal, subject to ratification by both parties, was reached with assistance from U.S. Secretary of Labor Tom Perez and Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service Deputy Director Scot Beckenbaugh.
"We thank the ILWU and PMA and look forward to everyone getting back to business as usual starting
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Photo credit: Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times
immediately," said Port of Long Beach Chief Executive Jon Slangerup. "We know that the marine terminal operators, longshore workers, truckers, railroads and others will be extremely busy as they work to clear out the massive backlog of cargo at all of the West Coast ports, including Long Beach. All of us will be working together to make this happen as soon as possible, but once again, we are extremely pleased with today’s news."
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