United States Maritime Alliance

Ports detail strike contingencies

With just days to go until a planned strike by the International Longshoremen’s Association could shut down East and Gulf Coast marine container traffic, ports and terminals are making plans to help shippers, truckers and other logistics providers through the aborning supply chain crisis.

The union has set a strike date of Oct. 1, when the current contract covering workers at ports from the Eastern Seaboard to the Gulf Coast expires.

Negotiations on a new six-year master contract have stalled...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/ports-detail-strike-contingencies

Port of New York-New Jersey details strike operations plan

The second-busiest U.S. ocean container port urged shippers to wind down cargo business less than a week before a strike deadline set by union dockworkers.

Strike preparations are underway at the Port of New York-New Jersey, Port Director Bethann Rooney said in a letter to customers, offering details on operational plans during the stoppage.

The International Longshoremen’s Association says its 45,000 members will walk off the job when the current master contract with port employers represented...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/port-of-new-york-new-jersey-details-strike-operations-plan

Apparel, shoe importers plead with Biden to intervene in dock strike

With just over a week to go until a promised strike by East and Gulf Coast dockworkers, a U.S. trade group representing almost a half-trillion dollars in annual sales became the latest business interest to plead with President Joe Biden to step in to prevent a work stoppage.

At the same time, port employers said they remain open to negotiations but have been unable to schedule bargaining with the longshore union.

Elsewhere, shipping lines are tacking on peak season surcharges in anticipation of...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/apparel-shoe-importers-plead-with-biden-to-intervene-in-dock-strike

Report: Biden won’t block dock strike

President Joe Biden won’t intervene to prevent a strike at East and Gulf Coast ports by union longshore workers, according to a published report.

The federal Taft-Hartley Act grants presidents powers to intervene in labor disputes that threaten national security or safety by imposing an 80-day cooling-off period, and forcing employees back to work while negotiations continue.

“We’ve never invoked Taft-Hartley to break a strike and are not considering doing so now,” a Biden administration official...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/report-biden-wont-block-dock-strike

Employers: Still time for East Coast port deal

Facing a dire countdown to the first dock strike in decades, employers at East and Gulf Coast ports say a new contract is still within reach, and publicly called for the International Longshoremen’s Association to return to contract talks.

“There has been no further progress on Master Contract negotiations – we remain committed to the bargaining process and need the ILA to return to the table,” the United States Maritime Exchange (USMX) said in a brief statement Friday.

The ILA, with the current...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/employers-still-time-for-east-coast-port-deal

U.S. port strike fears stoked as ILWU pledges solidarity with ILA

Raising the specter that a threatened Maine to Texas U.S. port strike could ratchet into something even further reaching, Willie Adams, U.S. West Coast dockworkers’ union president on Friday wrote International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) president Harold J. Daggett reaffirming his union’s support for the ILA in its negotiations with United States Maritime Alliance (USMX).

“As you continue negotiating and move close to the expiration of your contract, the ILWU stands in solidarity with the...

https://www.marinelog.com/inland-coastal/ports-terminals/u-s-port-strike-fears-stoked-as-ilwu-pledges-solidarity-with-ila/

Fears of Maine to Texas port strike grow

East and Gulf Coast port strike delays

Inbound cargo volume at America’s major container ports could see a near-record surge this month as retailers bring in merchandise ahead of a potential port strike at East Coast and Gulf Coast ports this fall, according to the Global Port Tracker report released this month by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.

“Retailers are concerned by the possibility of a strike at ports on the East and Gulf coasts because contract talks have stalled,” NRF vice president for supply chain...

https://www.marinelog.com/inland-coastal/ports-terminals/fears-of-maine-to-texas-port-strike-grow/

U.S. port strike fears grow as ILA halts negotiations with USMX

Raising the specter of a labor dispute paralyzing container traffic at U.S. ports on the East and Gulf coasts, the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) on July 10 announced it had suspended talks with the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) that had been scheduled for the next day. The decision arises amid ongoing negotiations of local agreements under a coast-wide master contract, set to expire on September 30, 2024.

The ILA said that it canceled master contract talks with the...

https://www.marinelog.com/inland-coastal/ports-terminals/u-s-port-strike-fears-grow-as-ila-halts-negotiations-with-usmx/

Seroka honored for ‘unwavering leadership throughout the pandemic’

Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka has been named the recipient of the Containerization & Intermodal Institute’s (CII) 2021 Connie Award.

“As the head of the nation’s largest port, Gene showed unwavering leadership throughout the pandemic by consistently rising to the occasion with innovative solutions to ever-changing challenges,” CII President Steve Blust said. 

During the height of the pandemic in the spring of 2020, LA Mayor Eric Garcetti named Seroka the city’s first chief...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/seroka-honored-for-unwavering-leadership-throughout-the-pandemic

ILA lawsuit throttles South Carolina container terminal traffic

It is unclear whether ocean carriers will avoid a newly opened container terminal in South Carolina until a labor dispute is cleared up. But at least for now, it appears most shipping lines are steering clear of the Port of Charleston’s Hugh K. Leatherman Terminal to avoid being caught up in a lawsuit filed by the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA).

Over the next 15 days, only two container ships are slated to be handled at the Leatherman Terminal. Forty vessels are scheduled to...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/ila-lawsuit-throttles-south-carolina-container-terminal-traffic

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