The International Longshore and Warehouse Union, which represents about 20,000 dock workers at 29 West Coast ports, will meet next week in San Francisco to decide whether to begin talks now on an extension of its contract with the Pacific Maritime Association.
The pair signed a five-year contract in early 2015, retroactive to July 1, 2014, after protracted labor talks and a nearly four-month work slowdown that harmed U.S. exporters.
The U.S. meat and poultry sectors lost an estimated $40 million a week during the slowdown.
The National Pork Producers Council and 112 other trade associations in March sent a letter to the groups urging them to begin early discussions on a contract extension or a new contract “to avoid actions that would slow, stop, or disrupt cargo movement during negotiations.”
