This afternoon the PMA (Pacific Maritime Association) announced that weekend operations of vessel loading and unloading will be temporarily suspended. The PMA indicated that yard, rail and gate operations would continue at terminal operators’ discretion.
Wade Gates (PMA spokesman) stated, “after three months of union slowdowns, it makes no sense to pay extra for less work, especially if there is no end in sight to the union’s actions which needlessly brought West Coast ports to the brink of gridlock.”
The notification from PMA indicated that vessel operations would resume on Monday, February 9th; but mentioned that yard operations would continue at terminal operators’ discretion and cited that the ILWU has continued to “limit operations by withholding the needed crane operators”.
Both parties have been working with Federal Mediation since early January in an effort to resolve the labor dispute. Earlier this week the PMA made an “All-in” offer to the ILWU in effort to bring negotiations to a close.
MIQ Logistics will continue to monitor this situation closely and will track updates on our Ocean Freight Forwarding Market Update page, as they become available.
For more information, please contact your local MIQ Logistics representative. 