LOCAL agreements in the New York-New Jersey domain of the International Longshoremen's Association may yet derail the pan-east and Gulf coast agreement that supposedly averted a coastwise strike
US east coast strike threat still looms on New York-New Jersey docks
LOCAL agreements in the New York-New Jersey domain of the International Longshoremen's Association may yet derail the pan-east and Gulf coast agreement that supposedly averted a coastwise strike, reports Newark's Ledger Star.
Still outstanding are thorny disputes over low-show and no-show jobs contested by the New York Shipping Association, the employers group in New York and New Jersey, said ILA spokesman Jim McNamara, saying there was no settlement between the employers and ILA locals representing NY-En's 3,250 dockers.
Mr McNamara said the deal, announced by Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service director George Cohen, is significant. "Obviously, it's a big step," he said.
A source in touch with the talks told the Hong Kong Shipping Gazette: "The union is not in a good position for a strike. Their strike fund is low because of all the legal challenges they have faced. But there are carriers in financial trouble too and they want to settle at any cost while the other carriers want to get rid of the no-show jobs, which are 40 per cent of them now."
Said National Retail Federation president Matthew Shay: "We urge the parties to quickly complete any outstanding negotiations, including local negotiations at each of the individual 14 ports, and quickly ratify the new labour agreement," Shay said in a statement. "If the tentative agreement holds, the new labour contract will bring much-needed certainty and predictability to the supply chain for retailers, manufacturers, farmers and other industries that rely on the ports to move the nation's commerce and trade."