NCC joined 125 associations representing manufacturers, farmers, agribusinesses, retailers, importers and exporters, and key supply-chain stakeholders this week in a letter to the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association encouraging early negotiations on a contract extension or new contract.
The coalition is focused on maintaining consistent trade in light of the disruptions industry faced in the 2015 shutdown. “We fully believe that agreeing early to a contract extension or a new long-term contract will provide the stability and predictability that is needed for global competitiveness that will benefit all stakeholders who rely on West Coast ports.”
The final letter is available here.
Meanwhile, West Coast union dockworkers will vote next week on whether or not they are willing to discuss an early extension of their contracts, a development that would be very welcomed by agriculture exporters.
Should the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) delegates votes yes, during a three-day meeting in San Francisco from August 10 – 12, to join the Pacific Maritime Association in early negotiations for an extension of the existing contact that is set to expire on July 1, 2019, then members will begin a lengthy process to discuss details to extend the contracts beyond the current July 1, 2019, expiration date.
It is a process that exporters will be watching closely after a nine-month contract dispute between the ILWU and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), a group that manages West Coast Ports, resulted in labor problems, massive slowdowns, and disruptions that effectively halted trade in late 2014 through early 2015.
