West Coast Dockworkers Ratify Contract

Members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union voted to ratify a new six-year contract with the Pacific Maritime Association, which operates West Coast port terminals, on September 1. The vote to approve the agreement by more than 75 percent ended a dockworkers’ strike that had paralyzed West Coast ports since July 1. The strike had led shippers to shift cargoes to Gulf Coast and East Coast ports. The agreement covers 22,000 dockworkers at 29 ports from Los Angeles to Seattle. Details of the agreement were not disclosed.

The longshore workers’ contract had expired in July. Longshore workers sought higher pay in the wake of record profits by shippers as demand recovered after COVID-19 restrictions, resulting in a surge in imports that sometimes overwhelmed ports.

The Biden administration had been involved in negotiations between the PMA and ILWU for a year. Leaders from both groups joined President Joe Biden at the White House to announce the agreement.

“We are pleased to have reached an agreement that recognizes the heroic efforts and personal sacrifices of the ILWU workforce in keeping our ports operating,” PMA President James McKenna and ILWU President Willie Adams said in a joint statement. “We are also pleased to turn our full attention back to the operation of the West Coast Ports.”

Acting U.S. Secretary of Labor Julie Su said, “The tentative agreement delivers important stability for workers, for employers and for our country’s supply chain.”

West Coast ports handle 40 percent of U.S. imports. An eight-day strike in 2015 cost the U.S. economy billions in revenues and led Barack Obama’s administration to intervene. A lockout in 2002 similarly bedeviled the administration of George W. Bush.