C O N T R A C T O V E R V I E W
16
2 0 1 4 A N N U A L R E P O R T
THE CONTRACT:
A Chronology
OOCL containers are unloaded at the YTI rail yard, Port of Los Angeles.
W
hen negotiators sat down in May 2014 to begin discussions on
a new longshore contract, most observers presumed that a deal
would be in hand relatively quickly. After all, the previous contract, in
2008, required only a few months to negotiate, with minimal disrup-
tions. This time around, when the contract expired on July 1, 2014,
the parties issued a joint statement pledging normal operations until
talks concluded. Yet there were no breakthrough agreements until late
August, when a tentative deal emerged on health care. At that point,
talks moved slowly on other issues, and by early November, ILWU
work slowdowns began to damage productivity at major ports.
In January 2015 the ILWU agreed to the participation of a federal
mediator; even after a tentative agreement on chassis maintenance, the
outcome of negotiations was very much in doubt. Finally, with leadership
by U.S. Cabinet Secretaries Tom Perez (Labor) and Penny Pritzker
(Commerce), along with Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service
Deputy Director Scot Beckenbaugh and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti,
the parties reached a tentative contract agreement on Feb. 20, 2015 –
more than nine months after talks began. The contract was ratified in May.
