Long Beach Port Strike

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Long Beach Port Strike Long Beach Port is one of the busiest ports in the US and the world. This vital installation is critical to trade and commerce in the country and beyond, highlighting its importance in the US economy. Unfortunately, in 2014-2015, the port was rocked by a strike that left many traders counting losses.

ILWU and PMA The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) is an influential t labor union that represents thousands of dockworkers on the West Coast of the United States, Hawaii, and British Columbia, Canada. ILWU negotiates contracts of employment on behalf of employees in the shipping industry and container terminals. On the other hand, the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) is a mutual non-profit organization that brings together employers in the shipping industry on the US’s Pacific coast.

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The organization is accountable for negotiating labor contracts between employers and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union employees union.

The Major Sticking Points in the ILWU Long Beach Port The main issue of the ILWU Long Beach Port is recurrent strikes involving members of the ILWU. Strikes have affected the ability of the port to deliver on its mandate. The strike in 2015 was caused by failed negotiation between ILWU and the shipowners represented by PMA (Malloy, 2015). ILWU claimed that the employers were exploiting drivers by underpaying them, hence the justification for negotiations to improve their wages. The shipowners also claimed that employees had slowed down their performance for several months. In response, shipowners reduced nighttime payroll and working days by 2 days to the detriment of employees' welfare (Malloy, 2015). On its part, the ILWU insisted that the shipowners should pay wage premiums for night shifts and time and a half for work on holidays and weekends to seasoned longshoremen. Furthermore, the union held that the payment must be pegged at the rate of about $36 per for most of its members serving under the union contract.

Negotiation with the PMA The negotiations between ILWU and PMA proved difficult and prolonged as each side tried to apply new tactics to better its bargaining power. The failure to reach an early agreement led to the involvement of the then US Labor Secretary, Thomas Pere, to try and broker a binding resolution.

The Resolution In February 2015, the negotiators for PMA and ILWU resolved to end the protracted strike. The resolution came in terms of a 5-year deal between ILWU and PMA. The deal was fair for all the parties involved, which was affirmed by the then PMA President James McKenna and

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ILWU President Bob McEllrath during a joint press briefing. The resolution gave employees better compensations and working conditions than before while at the same time it helped to guarantee the employee quality services from the labor force. Furthermore, the disruption of work at ports hurt both employees and shipowners (Malloy, 2015). In this respect, a deal that helped end the crisis and restore normal activities was good and fair for all.

The Top 3 Major US Ports For Overseas Import Shipments The following are the three leading US ports for overseas imports shipment by volume: a) Port Of Houston b) Port Of Beaumont c) Port Of New York Criterion The criterion is used encompassed looking at the capacity and traffic at the port. The largest ports are always busy because they process a lot of imports and exports. Most importantly, my choice for the three was informed by the volume of imports they process annually.

The Top 3 Ports In The World Compare To The Top 3 Ports In The US. The following are the world’s top three ports: 1. The port of Shanghai, China 2. The port of Singapore 3. The port of Ningbo-Zhoushan, China.

My observation is that the three top ports are highly automated than the US ports to reduce time-wasting. Also, the three top ports in the US handle more imports than exports, while the three top ports in the world are mainly dominated by exports (Assany, 2018).

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References Assany, M. I. A. (2018). Great Ports Of The World: From New York To Hong Kong. Prestel Art. Malloy, G. M. (2015). ILWU Ratifies Five-Year Contract, Ending Dispute at West Coast Ports. https://www.ttnews.com/articles/ilwu-ratifies-five-year-contract-ending-dispute-westcoast-ports.