West Coast Port Labor Negotiations Update
TIA is part of an industry coalition led by the National Retail Federation. Wednesday morning, TIA and the coalition learned of rumors floating around late yesterday about gradual shutdowns starting later this week culminating in a full shut down next week. The coalition cautions that, at this point, these are still rumors and have not been confirmed, noting that the parties were still at the negotiating table last night. TIA will keep you informed as developments occur.
The coalition reports that the ILWU has a stop work meeting scheduled for the second shift on Thursday. These stop work meetings are allowed, and are not considered a job action or strike.
Twelve years ago, a shutdown at West Coast ports due to an expired contract lasted ten days and had an estimated economic impact of $1 billion per day. The coalition is preparing a letter to President Obama to urge immediate action to get the ports open and the parties back to the negotiating table should there be a shutdown, lockout, or strike. If you have any questions, please contact Will Sehestedt (sehestedt@tianet.org, 703-299-5713).
