Excerpts from the Puget Sound Business Journal:
Let’s talk face-to-face. That’s the essence of a counter-proposal from longshore union leaders on Monday, after they resisted a week of pressure to bring contract issues to mediation.
In a release Monday, International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) President Robert McEllrath said his team needs direct conversations with counterpart leaders from the Pacific Maritime Association, which represents ocean carriers and terminal operators.
“Both sides need the right people in the room to get things finalized,” said McEllrath in a statement. In the letter, McEllrath contends that the 11 members of the PMA board are chief officers of carriers and cargo terminals, and that so far union leaders have not had a single face-to-face meeting with these leaders.
The union, by contrast, has been sending its “principal decision makers,” he said. “Indirect negotiations won’t get us over the finish line. The few issues that remain unresolved relate directly to the carriers and these key carriers need to come to the table.”