How the US and Canadian governments respond to anti-automation pressure from longshore unions will have ramifications beyond the shaping of public perception, affecting everything from permitting processes to federal grant funding for autonomous equipment upgrades.
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International Longshoremen’s Association
International Longshoremen’s Association
Since signing of its new six-year contract in 2018, the management of the International Longshoremen’s Agreement, which serves U.S. East and Gulf Coast ports, has vowed to increase container moves to over 30 moves an hour, and perhaps even higher in some ports. Speeding up fluidity to such a degree, would mean that the production rate “far better than any robot or equipment would” be able to attain, said an ILA management. Their goal is an agreement that spares cargo interests an experience such as the one they endured during the epic 2012-13 bargaining between the ILA and United States Maritime Alliance. Those negotiations yielded a six-year contract, but only after nearly a year of rocky negotiations and repeated strike threats.
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Press Releases
25 Jul 2019
Harold J. Daggett, who led negotiations for the International Longshoremen’s Association that forged the six-year master contract banning automated terminals from ports on the East and Gulf coasts, was re-elected as the union’s head at its convention Thursday.
20 Jun 2019
Amid intense scrutiny from longshore unions throughout North America, the LA harbor commission on Thursday approved a construction permit at APM Terminals Pier 400 that will open the door to a scalable type of automation that could be incorporated into smaller terminal operations in other ports.
31 May 2019
The Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor has the authority to issue subpoenas to members of the International Longshoremen’s Association in connection with a 2016 wildcat strike, a federal appellate court has ruled.
30 May 2019
Operations at the Port of Vancouver will resume at 4:30 p.m. local time thanks to a tentative new labor agreement between the BCMEA and ILWU Canada.
09 May 2019
The Port of New York and New Jersey and other ports along the Gulf and East coasts are looking at how to reduce the cost and productivity loss that occurs when longshoremen hired for the weekend are unable to work due to vessel delays.
15 Mar 2019
Harold Daggett, leader of the East and Gulf coast longshore labor union, is seeking a third term just over a year after striking a coastwide master contract with employers banning automated terminals.
12 Mar 2019
US West Coast terminal operators see ILWU resistance to the deployment of automated yard equipment at APM Terminals Pier 400 in Los Angeles as an end-run around its own contract, which not only allows for automation but states dockworkers “will not interfere with implementation.”
04 Mar 2019
Under the new program, ILA gangs will be responsible for increasing their productivity by about one move per hour each year, and teams that don't meet their goals will face additional reviews or even be removed from rotation.
14 Feb 2019
Auto-strad technology gives terminal operators considering automation a scalable model that is less costly than using automated stacking cranes and automated guided vehicles.
25 Jan 2019
Mega-ships and California environmental regulatory pressure is pushing APM Terminals to automate 100 acres of its Los Angeles facility.
21 Dec 2018
The agreement comes three-and-a-half months after ILA members on both coasts resoundingly ratified a six-year master agreement to replace the one that expired Sept. 30.
02 Nov 2018
What triggered the walkout in the Baltimore terminal, which is operated by Ports America Chesapeake, is unclear, but the job action is a reminder that although the signing of the six-year master contract was seen as a harbinger of stability along the two coasts, disputes over local issues and actions can intervene.
25 Oct 2018
At issue is an effort by port employers to have deskbound longshoremen monitor the temperature of each reefer twice a day to ensure that it is at the correct temperature, instead of longshoremen physically walking up to each box, checking, and documenting the temperature on an iPad.
08 Oct 2018
The International Longshoremen’s Association’s boycott of the 44th Congress of the International Transport Workers’ Federation, which begins Sunday, provides additional evidence that the introduction of further automation will not be a quick and simple process.
07 Sep 2018
The deal removes the need for a new contract — the biggest source of labor disruptions, on both East and Gulf coasts — until at least 2024. It parallels a labor deal for US West Coast ports lasting until 2022. Longshoremen backed that deal, a five-year extension of the last contract, in July 2017.
31 Aug 2018
The union said the Ports of Delaware River Marine Trade Association's latest offer was unacceptable because it did not address three main staffing issues.
30 Aug 2018
The deal, if approved by a majority of the International Longshoremen's Association members, would ensure labor peace on both East and Gulf coasts until at least 2024.
14 Aug 2018
The six-year deal contains good news for shippers concerning labor peace and the non-interruption of cargo. However, the deal is a setback for tech-driven and automation-driven efficiency improvements.
10 Jul 2018
The East Coast’s largest port, with the most complex negotiations, has reached an agreement. The International Longshoremen's Association wants all such local agreements to be completed before the master contract that covers the ports on both coasts can be ratified.
06 Jun 2018
An agreement between the International Longshoremen's Association and United States Maritime Alliance removes a great deal of uncertainty for shippers that send cargo through East Coast and Gulf Coast ports, and should spare them the need to take precautionary measures to prepare for a possible strike.
04 Jun 2018
Some shippers that send cargo through the Port of New York and New Jersey may take comfort from a federal judge’s ruling that the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor will continue to fight crime and oversee hiring in the port. Other shippers may be concerned that commission’s activities will continue, and hurt hiring and efficiency.
11 May 2018
Negotiators from the ILA and USMX will try to reach an agreement on local labor agreements, so that talks next month in Florida can focus on the six-year, coastwide deal.
12 Apr 2018
The International Longshoremen's Association East Coast and Gulf Coast employer representatives will meet June 5 through 7 in hopes of wrapping up the master and local contracts in advance of the current agreement’s Sept. 30 expiration.
23 Mar 2018
International Longshoremen's Association and United States Maritime Alliance committees report “significant progress” during two days of bargaining on a new master contract that BCOs hope will be settled well in advance of the Sept. 30 expiration.
09 Mar 2018
Although the International Longshoremen's Association has not had a coastwide strike since 1977, beneficial cargo owners are anxious to have a new agreement in place.
02 Mar 2018
NRF-led coalition tells ILA and USMX cargo loss is imminent if they do not resume contract negotiations soon.
14 Jan 2018
ILA and USMX officials had hoped to agree on a contract extension that would reassure the hundreds of shippers who will attend the JOC’s annual Trans-Pacific Maritime (TPM) conference March 4-7 in Long Beach, California.
10 Jan 2018
The legislation is the latest event in the ongoing, bitter dispute between the commission and the New York Shipping Association and the International Longshoremen’s Association.
07 Dec 2017
A closer look at contract extension talks for the US East and Gulf coasts suggests less cause for alarm.
06 Dec 2017
The union is prepared to avoid bargaining until the current coastwide contract expires on Sept. 30, 2018.
05 Dec 2017
New Jersey legislators are pushing ahead with a bill that would strip the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor of its policing responsibility in the Port of New York and New Jersey.
05 Dec 2017
Hopes are are high among trade participants; shippers would be delighted if a long-term deal is struck, as it would support supply-chain certainty.
27 Nov 2017
Local shipping sources in JNPT told JOC.com that some vessels have been stranded at berth or at anchorage.
