DEAL REACHED TO END BRITISH COLUMBIA PORT STRIKE
A 13-day strike that disrupted shipments at Canada’s western ports is set to end after the dockworkers’ union and a group of employers agreed on a tentative deal. The International Longshore & Warehouse Union, representing more than 7,000 workers, and the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association reached an agreement on a new four
year deal. The parties didn’t release details. The agreement paves the way for an end of the work stoppage at ports in Vancouver and Prince Rupert, the country’s busiest and third-busiest hubs. The employers group said operations are expected to “resume as soon as possible.” The strike at ports that handle about a quarter of Canada’s total traded goods reduced arrivals of container ships and diverted vessels to US facilities — impeding imports of materials for manufacturing as well as exports of natural resources like potash.
TRADE COOLS AT PORT OF LONG BEACH
Trade passing through the Port of Long Beach slowed down in June, as retailers continued to clear out their warehouses. Dockworkers and terminal operators at the port moved 597,076 TEUs last month, a 28.5% decline from June 2022, which was the port busiest June on record, and more than 21% below May’s volume. Imports were down 34% YoY to 274,325 TEUs, while exports declined 18% to 94,508 TEUs. Empty containers moving through the Port decreased 25% to 228,243 TEUs. Next door, the Port of Los Angeles reported its best month in a year in June, with volumes just 5% below last year’s monthly record. In the first half of 2023, the Port of Long Beach moved 3,732,676 TEUs, down 25.5% from the same period last year.
NEW JERSEY UNION CLAIMS ILA BLOCKED IT FROM TERMINAL CONSTRUCTION PROJECT
A New Jersey heavy-equipment operators’ union is suing the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA), alleging the dockworkers reneged on a deal that would have allowed non longshore workers to do project work at a Port of New York and New Jersey marine terminal. Local 825 International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) filed a complaint in New Jersey federal court Monday against the ILA and three of its state locals, claiming the parties had a letter of understanding about the IUOE performing construction work at the Port Newark Container Terminal (PNCT).
ILA CHARLESTON PROTEST AIMS TO UP ANTE ON EXPANDED WORK JURISDICTION.
The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) plans to demonstrate at the South Carolina state capitol to send a message that it will keep fighting to gain jurisdiction over all work at a new Charleston marine terminal, a philosophy the union intends to push for other terminal expansions, including in Savannah. ILA Local 1422 in Charleston, with support of union members nationwide, is leading the protest the states and South Carolina Port Authority’s (SCPA) use of non union state employees at the Hugh K. Leatherman Terminal, which opened in 2021.