SHIPPING: Union, US East Coast ports to resume negotiations in November

HOUSTON (ICIS)–Union dock workers and US East Coast port operators will resume negotiations on a new master agreement in November, according to a joint statement from both parties.

The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA), representing the dock workers, and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX), which represents the ports, reached a tentative agreement on 3 October that ended a three-day strike.

The strike was paused until 15 January after parties agreed on the salary portion of the agreement, essentially meeting in the middle.

But the union remains adamant against any full or partial automation at ports that could threaten union jobs.

The respective negotiating committees will meet in New Jersey, where they will look to agree on terms for a new contract that can be presented to the full ILA Wage Scale Committee for approval, and later, to ILA membership for ratification, the statement said.

“The ILA and USMX welcome the opportunity to return to the bargaining table and get a new agreement in place as soon as possible,” the parties said.

The two sides will not discuss details of negotiations with the media prior to these meetings.

IMPACTS TO CHEM MARKETS
The short strike had some impact on the US chemicals industry, with polyethylene (PE) exports to Brazil being put on hold in the lead up to the work stoppage.

The polyvinyl chloride (PVC) industry was concerned as all US Gulf PVC exports move out of one of the impacted East Coast ports.

In the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) market, imports of PET resins were diverted to the US West Coast in anticipation of the work stoppage.

The dock workers do not handle liquid chemical tankers, as most terminals that handle liquid chemical tankers are privately owned and do not necessarily use union labor.

Also, tankers do not require as much labor as container or dry cargo vessels, which must be loaded and unloaded with cranes and require labor for forklifts and trucks.

But container ships and costs for shipping containers are relevant to the chemical industry because while most chemicals are liquids and are shipped in tankers, container ships transport polymers, such as polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), are shipped in pellets.

They also transport liquid chemicals in isotanks.

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Thumbnail image shows a container ship. Photo by Shutterstock