ILWU ratifies contract; stability expected to return to U.S. West Coast ports

The membership of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Friday voted overwhelmingly to approve a new contract that should ensure labor peace at West Coast ports for at least the next four years.

The five-year contract, which is retroactive to July 1, 2014, will expire on July 1, 2019. The ILWU headquarters in San Francisco said 82 percent of the rank-and-file votes were cast in favor of the contract. That compares with a 75 percent vote in favor of the previous contract that was signed in 2008.

The contract ratification closes a year of tumultuous relations between the ILWU and the Pacific Maritime Association, which saw West Coast ports overwhelmed by congestion because of dockworker slowdowns and a response by employers that included cutbacks on costly night and weekend work.

Source: Journal of Commerce