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Dockers okay mediation to resolve deadlocked west coast dock talks

THE International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) has at last agreed with the employers' Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) that federal mediation is best way to resolve deadlocked waterfront negotiations to bring about a labour contract that lapsed on July 1.

The US Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) has announced that because of a joint request from the ILWU and the PMA, talks would be chaired by FMCS "as soon as possible," reported Newark's Journal Commerce.

Saying that it was a joint request will appear disingenuous to many because the PMA called for mediation on December 22 while the ILWU on agreed on January 6 after seeking to avoid it by urging dilatory courses.

The FMCS said deputy director Scot Beckenbaugh, a senior mediator with "extensive experience in this industry," would join the talks as soon as possible.

Mr Beckenbaugh was one of the mediators, who assisted in bringing about the successful conclusion of the last 2012-2013 contract talks covering 20,000 dockers from Seattle to LA-Long Beach, noted American Shipper.

This session of contract talks between the ILWU and PMA began on May 12 and the union has been working without a contract since July 1 with supply chain sabotage starting in October, without the benefit of immediate arbitration a working contract would have provided..

The FMCS is an independent federal agency that serves as a neutral third party to assist with labour negotiations. The FMCS cannot impose a settlement, but its mediators act as an intermediary to help the two sides reach an agreement.