Post by dockworker on Oct 7, 2009 15:05:37 GMT -5
Ocean cargo/global logistics
ILA Agrees on Contract Extension
Patrick Burnson
10/1/2009
SAN FRANCISCO--Calmer minds prevailed in contract negotiations yesterday between the International Longshoreman’s Association (ILA) and United States Maritime Alliance (USMX), as both sides agreed on a two year extension.
As reported in LM, Wage Scale delegates had unanimously rejected the deal at meetings in Orlando, Florida on Wednesday, September 2, 2009. But when the issue was brought before the rank and file, the 65,000 East and Gulf Coast dockworkers gave it a ringing endorsement.
Under the new compensation arrangement, pay for new hires will increase immediately by 25 percent to $20 hourly wage, and a new tiered seniority structure will expedite pay raises for more-tenured employees.
USMX, meanwhile, retains the right to introduce new substitutive labor technology.
Labor analysts expect ILA members to ratify the contract extension in November, thereby eliminating the risk of a work stoppage at all of the East and Gulf U.S. ports during the latter half of 2010 when the current contract was scheduled to expire.
Entering into the equation, said analysts, was the fact that East Coast seaports had been perceived by shippers as being run more collaboratively run than those on the Pacific Rim where the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) is in charge. Random work stoppages, and wildcat strikes have made shippers gun shy about using a West Coast gateway when an ILA-served port can provide more long-term stability.
Industry analysts have also noted that Some U.S. Atlantic Coast ports have gained share (despite declining volume) in the recession.
“This is in advance of the expansion of the Panama Canal, with low all water service rates combined with improved inland connections from these ports,” said Paul Bingham, managing director with IHS Global Insight, Inc. in Washington, DC. “Furthermore, unwanted growth in global containership fleet capacity makes the addition of more direct calls possible, and an alternative to laying the ships up.”