IWLA Urges Biden Administration to Facilitate ILWU-PMA Negotiations

IWLA and 156 other local, state, and national trade associations sent a letter to President Biden urging his administration to continue working with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) to settle the terms of a new collective-bargaining agreement covering all 30 West Coast ports. The ILWU and PMA contract represents over 22,400 dockworkers and expired on July 1, 2022 without a new agreement to replace it.

Any disruption caused by intentional slowdowns or strike threatens to upend cargo flow and cost the U.S. economy billions. Although ILWU and PMA released a joint statement in June that “neither party is preparing for a strike or lockout” as negotiations continue, slow-rolling tasks disrupted labor for nearly 6 months and cost the U.S. billions of dollars in losses during the last contract negotiation.

In their joint letter to President Biden, the undersigned trade associations specifically encouraged the administration to work with the ILWU and PMA to extend the recently lapsed contract until a final contract is reached, to commit to remain at the negotiating table and negotiate in good faith, and to agree to not engage in any kind of activity that leads to further disruption at the ports.

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