In an article called ‘Striking a balance,’ the Journal of Commerce Magazine reports that shippers are anticipating the ILA negotiations with USMX that begin later this month. Read the full article here or read excerpts below:
When International Longshoremen’s Association President Harold Daggett warned some 1,600 Trans-Pacific Maritime Conference attendees this month that labor negotiations could produce a strike this fall, shippers immediately got on their cell phones to discuss alternatives.
Both the ILA and United States Maritime Alliance have pledged to work to avoid disruptions in negotiations for an East and Gulf Coast labor contract before the current six-year deal expires on Sept. 30, but many supply chain managers are taking no chances.
Supply chains were thrown into havoc when employers locked out International Longshore and Warehouse Union workers on the West Coast in November 2002, an event that echoes throughout U.S. supply chains to this day. “That lasted 10 days, and it took two months to recover,” said Ed Zaninelli, vice president of trans-Pacific westbound at Hong Kong-based Orient Overseas Container Line.