Wednesday, September 28th 2016
Shipping companies and a powerful dockworkers union have agreed to discuss a possible extension to a contract reached last year, ending labor strife that disrupted U.S. West Coast ports and bogged down cargo trade with Asia for months. The International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), which represents major shippers and terminal operators, have tentatively set talks on the proposal for Nov. 1-2, the two sides said in a joint statement on Tuesday. The two sides said another statement may be issued afterward. The current five-year contract, which expires on July 1, 2019, covers 20,000 dockworkers at 29 West Coast ports handling nearly half of all U.S. maritime trade and more than 70 percent of the country's imports from Asia. The February 2015 settlement of that contract, in a deal brokered with the help of U.S. Labor Secretary Thomas Perez and a federal mediator, capped months of labor tensions and increasing gridlock at the ports.