PMA Makes "All-in" Offer to ILWU as Contract Talks Lag

On Wednesday the Pacific Maritime Association has made a contract offer which would significantly increase compensation to members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union. PMA’s offer is designed to bring contract negotiations to a close after nearly nine months, and follows 14th weeks of severe ILWU slowdowns that have crippled productivity at major West Coast ports. On a video message on the PMA website, President and CEO Jim McKenna said
McKenna:”Given the generous offer, the continued work slow down by the ILWU and an ernst attempt over the past non months to bargain beyond our comfort zone. The PMA has concluded that the latest offer is as far as we can go at this point. Now the PMA must decide how much longer we are going to pay longshore workers to work slowly. These slowdowns are having the same results as a worker strike — except that workers are still getting a paycheck. The slowdowns need to stop —the terminals can not withstand any more. We are truly close to gridlock and long-term these actions undermine the credibility of West Coast ports in an environment that is going to become even more competitive with the expansion of the Panama Canal and the increase of trade to the East Coast through the Sueza Canal. A lot is at stake here — with millions of jobs and trillions in economic impact hanging in the balance. It is time to conclude this negations and get our ports working again.”
In case you are wondering full-time ILWU workers already earn an average of $147,000 per year, and would see their wages rise roughly 3 percent per year, along with fully paid health care that costs employers $35,000 per worker per year.
A fact sheet on the PMA offer is attached, and a video of McKenna offering details of the offer is available on the PMA website: www.pmanet.org.