In a letter to President Barack Obama, the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) – the unified and collective voice of public seaports in the Americas – urged the president to take the necessary steps to assign federal mediators to help resolve the ongoing contract negotiations between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), representing West Coast dockworkers, and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), whose principal business is to negotiate and administer maritime labor agreements with the ILWU. “America’s seaports are absolutely vital to our economy, jobs and international competitiveness. At this tender stage of the economic recovery, our nation simply cannot afford disruptions, let alone a shutdown, of any part of the ports system,” said Kurt Nagle, AAPA president and CEO. “After seven months of labor negotiations without an agreement being reached, we believe that federal mediation is now necessary to prevent the significant economic repercussions that can occur whenever there is uncertainty and unpredictability in the movement of international commerce through our ports.”