September 3 2018
|
The Journal of Commerce 15 www.joc.com
International Maritime
A TENTATIVE, SIX-YEAR master
contract between the Internation-
al Longshoremen's Association
(ILA) and United States Maritime
Alliance (USMX) would prohibit
fully automated terminal operations
for six years at East and Gulf ports
covered by the contract, according to
a summary of the deal posted on the
union's website.
The agreement, reached by
the ILA and USMX on June 6, also
addresses the challenges of the me-
ga-ship era, according to the 14-min-
ute video featuring a presentation
of the contract by Executive Vice
President Dennis A. Daggett. The
contract gives terminals greater flex-
ibility in managing union workers —
allowing a reduced mandatory work
period — in situations in which a
vessel fails to arrive on schedule.
The video provides the first
details of the contract, which,
if approved by rank-and-file ILA
members, would ensure labor peace
on both coasts until at least 2024,
and parallels a labor deal for US West
Coast ports lasting until 2022.
the video a "clear and unambiguous
representation of the [proposed]
agreement."
The ILA-USMX master contract
covers wages, medical benefits,
carrier-paid container royalties, and
other coastwide issues. Bargaining
on supplementary local and regional
contracts, which cover work rules,
pensions, and other port-specific
issues, are conducted separately.
Union leaders say they want the
union's locales to reach an agreement
on local issues before voting on the
master agreement. Although the ILA
and the Port of New York and New
Jersey reached an agreement in early
July, not all of the locales met a July
10 deadline by which ILA President
Harold Daggett had hoped to get all
the local contracts wrapped up, and
some are still negotiating.
In the video, Dennis Daggett,
Harold's son, said he believes the deal
is "the best ILA contract ever negotiat-
ed," adding that it represents a "giant
step forward" for the union.
Indeed, the contract goes far
deeper into the union-employer
relationship than the West Coast
contract extension did, the latter
reached after the International
Longshore and Warehouse Union
(ILWU) and the Pacific Maritime
Association (PMA) agreed to limit
negotiations to two basic items —
wages and pensions and length of
contract. The extension, which lasts
until July 2022, does not address
hot-button issues such as ILWU
jurisdiction or automation.
West Coast labor disruptions,
including a 10-day lockout in 2002
and months of delays during contract
negotiations from 2014 to 2015, trig-
gered a shift in cargo volumes away
from the West Coast and toward East
and Gulf Coast ports, which hope to
retain the market share they gained.
Since 2010, the West Coast's
market share of loaded cargo has
declined from 50.45 percent to
44.9 percent in 2017, according to
PIERS, a sister product of The Jour-
nal of Commerce within IHS Markit.
The East Coast share of all loaded
containers rose from 41.7 percent
to 46 percent between 2010 and
2017, PIERS figures show. The Gulf
Coast share of all loaded container
increased from 6.9 percent to
8.5 percent from 2010 to 2017.
For shippers, ratification of
the agreement would remove the
uncertainty hanging over the Gulf
and East Coast ports as the Sept. 30
expiration of the contract approach-
es. The union has yet to ratify the
contract, and declined to comment
on it beyond the video.
The ban on fully automated
terminals, however, could also quash
shipper hopes that some of the East
and Gulf coasts' more expensive
ports — among them the Port of
New York and New Jersey — might
harness automation and technology
to cut costs and improve efficiency.
The contract gives union members
a $1 an hour base pay increase in four
years out of six, increases by $104 mil-
lion the worker share of container roy-
alties generated, and sets aside money
for a defined contribution retirement
plan, according to the video.
USMX declined to comment on
the contract or the video, which ap-
pears to be aimed at union members
who have the right to vote to ratify
the deal. But one USMX official, who
asked not to be identified, called
Job protection
Tentative ILA-USMX contract bans
full automation of terminals for length of deal
By Hugh R. Morley
Virginia
International
Gateway in
Norfolk is one
of the most
automated
terminals on the
East Coast.
Backus Aerial
Photography
Importing & Exporting | Ports | Carriers | Breakbulk | Global Logistics
