The dockworker union and employers for US West Coast ports have finally put their seals of approval on a new labour contract after more than a year of talks that led up to a tentative deal signed in mid-June.
The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) ratified the agreement on Thursday, making official a six-year pact that will expire in July 2028.
About 75% of ILWU workers voted in favour of the deal, which was certified by the union’s Coast Balloting Committee.
Terms of the agreement were not readily available, but Reuters reported that it included a 32% pay raise for the ILWU’s roughly 20,000 dockworkers that are employed at 29 ports along the West Coast.
Fulltime registered ILWU longshore workers make an average salary of $211,000 per year and receive a maximum annual pension benefit of $95,000, the PMA stated on its website.
The ILWU declined to comment on the reported pay hike. Calls to the PMA were immediately returned.
“The negotiations for this contract were protracted and challenging,” ILWU International president Willie Adams said in a statement.
“I am grateful to our rank and file for their strength, to our Negotiating Committee for their vision and tenacity, and to those that supported giving the ILWU and PMA the space that we needed to get to this result.”
PMA chief executive Jim McKenna said the deal provides a plan for the work ahead to overcome new competitive challenges and keep West Coast ports as destinations of choice for shippers worldwide.
“From San Diego to Bellingham, these ports have long been the primary gateways for cargo coming into and leaving the United States, and our interests are aligned in ensuring they can effectively, and efficiently, handle the capacity growth that drives economies and jobs,” he said in a statement.
The ratified contract will give the customers of the Port of Los Angeles — North America’s busiest port that handled 9.9m teu in container volume in 2022 — the service reliability they need, executive director Gene Seroka said.
“This contract brings long-term stability and confidence to our customers as we re-double our efforts to bring more cargo back to the Port of Los Angeles, the premier gateway to and from the Pacific Rim,” he said in a statement.
Acting US labour secretary Julie Su helped put in place the tentative agreement on 15 June after the PMA accused the union of disrupting operations at West Coast ports on several occasions in March, April and June while negotiations took place.
