The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and the U.S. Maritime Alliance have set a new March 8 deadline for negotiation of local contracts covering port-specific issues that supplement a Maine-to-Texas master agreement. On February 1, the ILA and U.S. Maritime Alliance agreed on a six-year master contract for 14 East and Gulf Coast ports, but that agreement was continent on settlement of supplemental local contracts. The parties had originally set a date of March 1 to conclude the local negotiations.
The ILA and the U.S. Maritime Alliance extended the deadline by a week to give local negotiators a final opportunity to complete bargaining on local agreements before the ILA’s wage scale committee meets March 12-14 in Tampa. All of the local negotiations must be concluded before a ratification vote on the master contract can occur. The ILA contract was originally set to expire on September 30, 2012 but has been extended twice after threatened strikes.
Several ports have announced that bargaining has been completed on local contracts covering work rules, pension, and other issues, and negotiators are nearing agreement at other ports. The most crucial exception is New York-New Jersey, which has been a focal point since the negotiations began almost a year ago. The New York Shipping Association wishes to change work rules and staffing requirements, and the ILA has been resisting these changes. These parties are planning three days of intensive bargaining next week in order to reach a deal by the March 8 deadline. Failure to reach a deal could jeopardize ratification of the master contract, and renew the possibility of labor disruptions.
