Contract negotiations between the International Longshore & Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the employer group Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) have been underway since May 10, 2022, and the union has been operating without a contract since July 1, 2022. And, here we are, a year later, with waning patience and no contract.
Last month, hope sprouted when both sides announced an agreement to manning issues at both automated and non-automated terminals.
This month, we struggle to find green shoots of hope in the comments made by General Stephen Lyons’, the White House’s Port Envoy, after sitting in on recent negotiations, “The reflections I’m getting from both sides are positive, meaning we should see tentative agreements soon.”
Hope, as they say, springs eternal.