In a joint statement released late Wednesday, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association announced a tentative agreement on a new contract that covers 22,000 workers at 29 ports from San Diego to Seattle, some of the busiest in the world.
Details about the agreement, which is expected to be formally ratified by both sides, were not immediately released.
President Joe Biden, who stepped in last year to urge a swift resolution, released a statement congratulating the two parties for reaching an agreement “after a long and sometimes acrimonious negotiation.”
“As I have always said, collective bargaining works,” Biden said. “Above all I congratulate the port workers, who have served heroically through the pandemic and the countless challenges it brought and will finally get the pay, benefits and quality of life they deserve.”
It was the second time in six months that the Biden administration has intervened in a labor dispute that could have caused major damage to the U.S. economy. In December, Biden signed legislation to impose a labor agreement between rail companies and workers.On the horizon is the prospect of another disruption to the nation’s freight system. The Teamsters contract with United Parcel Service, covering 340,000 workers, expires July 31, and the union will announce the results of a strike authorization vote Friday.The negotiations between the Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association, which represents the shipping terminals, have focused on disagreements over wages and the expanding role of automation. (Unionized workers at the ports have average salaries in the low six figures.) Last year, the two sides announced incremental agreements on areas including health care benefits.
Workers have staged a series of work slowdowns at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, California, which in recent months have lost sizable business to ports along the Gulf and East Coasts. Cargo processing at the Port of Los Angeles was down roughly 40% in February, compared with the year before.
