The National Retail Federation has called for negotiators on both sides of pending West Coast dock workers’ contract talks to reach an agreement as quickly as possible, but the leader of a national agriculture trade group said he’s preparing for the worst.
The contract between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the coalition of dock operators — the Pacific Maritime Association — will expire later this summer, but new talks are expected to begin later this month. The contact covers 14,000 dock workers at 29 containerized ports along the West Coast.
Shutdown Could Be Devastating
Matthew Shay, the NRF’s president and CEO, said his group is hoping for a quick resolution so that a labor action — such as a walkout by union members that would essentially shut down cargo container ports in California, Oregon and Washington — can be avoided.
“We urge you to begin contract negotiations now and to attempt to reach agreement on a new contract before the June 30 expiration,” Shay said. “These negotiations are important to all of the import and export and related industries who rely on these ports to move the nation’s commerce.”
Most of the country’s imported retail goods currently come through the West Coast ports, although an ongoing project to widen and deepen the Panama Canal soon will allow East Coast ports to accept super-sized “Panamax” cargo ships. That project won’t be completed until the end of the year, however.
Local Labor Actions Already Have Occured
In the meantime, Peter Friedman, leader of the Agriculture Transportation Coalition, said that he’s not optimistic that both sides will reach a settlement quickly, especially since local chapters of the union already have staged walkouts of varying lengths at some West Coast ports. Workers walked off the job recently in Tacoma for a few hours and for five days at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
“We all can learn a lot from the recent past,” Friedman said. “Over the past 12 months, all container terminals on the West Coast have been shut down by ILWU for varying lengths of time, and this as without any contact expiration in sight.”
Union leaders already have shown an inclination for backing such labor actions, according to Friedman.
“So we should not be surprised to see disruption and slow downs at all the US West Coast marine terminals,” he said.
Even though retailers are hopeful that the negotiations will be short and an agreement can be reached quickly, they are also practical and are preparing for any eventuality, according to Shay.
“NRF’s members, as well as other stakeholders, have already begun contingency planning to ensure their cargo does not get caught in potential disruptions,” Shay said. “Any kind of disruption at the ports would add costly delays to our members’ supply chains and other industries relying on US West Coast ports, and it likely further threatens the fragile economic recovery.”
The West Coast ports currently handle about 11.2 million cargo containers annually, or about 69% of all the retail cargo containers coming into the US, according to NRF’s Global Port Tracker report.