About 250 watchmen represented by a local branch of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) have voted to authorize a strike at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) said Tuesday.
If the two sides do not reach a new agreement before the contract extension expires, a walkout could begin at 5 p.m. Pacific time.
Although ILWU Local 26 accounts for only 2 percent of the union’s total workforce at the two ports, the association said the terminals where its members work handle more than half of the cargo moving through the San Pedro Bay complex. The potentially impacted terminals handle roughly 85 percent of Long Beach’s cargo and 33 percent of freight at the Port of Los Angeles, the PMA said.
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A watchmen strike could halt vessel, yard and gate operations at the affected terminals at both ports.
“None of the employers’ proposals have been resolved, and significant differences remain,” according to a statement from the PMA, which is represented by 72 shipping lines, stevedore companies and marine terminal operators at ports in California, Oregon and Washington. “A timely agreement matters not only to the parties at the table, but to the entire Southern California supply chain and to the local, state and national economies that depend on it.”
Local 26 represents maritime security personnel who handle gate security and cargo watch duties, work that puts a small group at the entry and exit points for containers moving through some of the largest terminals in the country.
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