The Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), representing employers at 29 ports, and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), which represents 20,000 dockworkers, have come to a tentative agreement on a key issue in ongoing contract negotiations.
News / Industry News
The union representing West Coast dockworkers and their employers on Monday reached a tentative agreement on a key component of the stalled labor talks that threaten to cripple cargo movement at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
“December’s gain in the LEI was driven by a majority of its components, suggesting the short-term outlook is getting brighter and the economy continues to build momentum,” said Ataman Ozyildirim, Economist at The Conference Board. “Still, a lack of growth in residential construction and average weekly hours in manufacturing remains a concern. Current economic conditions measured by the coincident indicators show employment and income gains are helping to keep the U.S. economy on a solid expansionary path despite some weakness in industrial production.”
About 6,000 community members and International Longshore and Warehouse Union workers made their way Thursday from the Vincent Thomas Bridge to the Maritime Museum to support hundreds of Los Angeles and Long Beach dockworkers engaged in contentious contract talks with employers.
American Trucking Associations
American Trucking Associations’advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index was unchanged in December, following a jump of 3.5% during the previous month. In December, the index equaled 136.8 (2000=100), which tied November as the all-time high.
Port and shipping industry leaders gathered here Thursday called for a swift resolution to a labor fight that is threatening the flow of cargo packages at ports along the West Coast.
Drayage, the business of carrying cargo containers by truck from a port terminal to a distribution center, warehouse, or rail ramp, is in a god-awful mess right now at ports from California to New Jersey.
Hundreds of longshore workers plan to take to the streets on January 22 to protest their employers’ decision to suspend vessel unloading night shifts at the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports.
Members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union are planning a community march down Harbor Boulevard in San Pedro to object to the Pacific Maritime Association’s move to not unload ships at night in order to move containers at congested terminal yards.
The Seattle Times
Drivers around West Seattle say they’ve never seen anything like the truck traffic that caused slowdowns and safety hazards all the way from Harbor Island to Interstate 5, most of Wednesday and Thursday.
They’re angry.
The December Cass Freight Indexes followed expected seasonal trends with a 6.3 percent drop in shipment volume and a matching 6.7 percent decline in freight spending. However, the December figures mark the highest end ‐of‐year values for both indexes since the beginning of the recession in 2007.