Tentative maritime agreement to bring stability and confidence, LA port director claims

By G. Jordan Granucci, Editorial Intern

Four-hundred days after the coastwide contract between the Pacific Maritime Association and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union expired, city leaders breathed a collective sigh of relief on June 14 when PMA President James McKenna and ILWU president Willie Adams announced a tentative agreement.

For more than a year, longshore workers on the west coast have been working without a contract, and shippers have been steadily rerouting cargo to avoid the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports.

City Councilman Tim McOsker was one of those who expressed his relief. 

“I’m thrilled that the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and Pacific Maritime Association have come to a West Coast agreement,” McOsker said.

Mayor Karen Bass called the agreement a win. 

“This is a win for the working people of our City,” — Bass said. “And I want to give special recognition to acting United States Secretary of Labor Julie Su, President of ILWU Local 13 Gary Herrera and Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka. About 40% of West Coast imports come through the Port of Los Angeles, which generates 1 in 15 jobs here in Los Angeles. Thank you to the dockworkers and terminal operators who continue to make our Port go – know that we will continue to do all we can to ensure it continues to prosper.”

The port generates one in 15 jobs in LA, and 40% of West Coast imports come through it.

Relief is in the air as negotiations draw to a close — negotiations that have, at times, caused some disruption at various terminals. The summer of 2022 saw corruption unearthed within the ILWU and the PMA over health benefits, which was followed up by multiple arrests for alleged felony conspiracy to commit health care fraud and misdemeanor theft in connection with health care.

More recently, the ILWU resumed its past practice of withholding lashers from terminals at the nation’s largest port complex, according to the PMA’s June 12 press update.

Nevertheless, in a joint statement on June 14, PMA President James McKenna and ILWU president Willie Adams announced their pleasure to have reached a tentative agreement that covers workers of all 29 West Coast ports on a new six-year contract; the deal was reached with the assistance of Acting U.S. Labor Secretary Julie Su.

At this time, neither organization will be releasing details of the agreement, which is also subject to ratification by both parties.