ILWU, PMA reach tentative agreement on key issues

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) has reached a tentative agreement with the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) on “certain key issues”.

The parties released the news on 20 April, as talks are still ongoing until an agreement is finalised.

Previously, the union and the employer had announced in July 2022 that they had reached a tentative agreement on the terms for maintenance of health benefits.

In February, they jointly issued a press release stating that negotiations are still ongoing and that they remain optimistic about reaching an agreement soon.

Both parties have agreed not to disclose the terms of the tentative agreements while the negotiations continue.

READ: US West Coast ports show resilience to labour negotiations

The strained relations between the PMA and ILWU had recently escalated due to the shutdown of significant terminals at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

The collective bargaining agreement being negotiated by the ILWU and PMA covers more than 22,000 longshore workers at 29 ports located in the western part of the US.

The previous agreement expired on 1 July 2022, and negotiations commenced on 10 May 2022.

The parties are regularly meeting in San Francisco to continue negotiating the collective bargaining agreement, and both remain committed to reaching an agreement according to their recent joint statement.