AgTC Joins 175 Group Coalition Urging Parties to Resolve West Coast Ports Labor Dispute
posted by AJOT | Jan 16 2015 at 05:48 PM | International Trade | Ports & Terminals | Liner Shipping
The Agriculture Transportation Coalition (AgTC) signed a letter along with 175 other industry organizations urging the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) to stay the course in their labor contract negotiations and resolve the congestion issues which have plagued shipments of US agriculture and forest products exports in recent months.
The Agriculture Transportation Coalition’s membership includes companies that represent virtually all agriculture and forest products exported from the United States, as well as imports of these products. These products are grown, raised, processed, packaged and shipped from all regions of the U.S. to markets worldwide, where they typically face competition from similar products sourced elsewhere.
The result of the West Coast port disruption over the past 6 months has been hundreds of millions of dollars of lost sales, cargo damage, and lost customers to US agriculture, manufacturers, farmers, and retailers, not to mention lay-offs in each of these sectors. This disruption and injury continues today.
Letter To PMA and ILWU:
January 16, 2015
Mr. Robert McEllrath Mr. James McKenna
President Chairman and CEO
International Longshore and W arehouse Union Pacific Maritime Association
1188 Franklin Street, Fourth Floor 555 Market Street, Third Floor
San Francisco, CA 94109 San Francisco, CA 94105
Dear Mr. McEllrath and Mr. McKenna:
On behalf of the undersigned organizations representing manufacturers, farmers and
agribusinesses, wholesalers, retailers, importers, exporters, distributors, and transportation and
logistics providers, we appreciate both parties resuming negotiations this month with the
assistance of Scot Beckenbaugh, Deputy Director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation
Service.
We fully respect the process of collective bargaining and we understand the importance of
the key issues that both management and labor are trying to resolve. We believe that the two
parties must come to a resolution of the issues that is satisfactory for all concerned. We have
been disappointed, however, by the exchanges that have occurred in the media and accusations
by both sides of improper tactics. As customers of your ports, and industries affected by their
operations, our members desperately need this negotiation to be concluded and operations
returned to normal levels of through-put.
Over the summer months, both sides verbally agreed to work during the negotiations without
interruptions. That promise was broken and the consequences have been to the detriment of our
collective industries, the economy and our global competitiveness. The stakes are extremely high
and the uncertainty at the West Coast ports is causing great reputational and economic harm to
our nation. Policymakers in Washington, DC cannot solve the myriad of issues surrounding these
talks, but the competitive marketplace will respond if you continue on this current path.
Sales of American exports remain clouded in uncertainty across Asia and our overseas
competitors eagerly highlight the problems at West Coast ports as a reason not to purchase
American made or grown products. Manufacturers in the Midwest have had to slow and even
stop production lines due to delays in receiving containers from the West Coast that hold critical
inputs. Retailers are now seeing delays of early spring merchandise including products for
Valentine’s Day and Easter. Supply chains across all of our industry sectors have already been
adversely impacted due to events far beyond our control over the past several months. It is a
black eye for the broader economy and some jobs have and will continue to be lost as a result of
continued delays at the ports.
Please consider allaying the growing concerns of the many thousands of businesses and
millions of jobs which rely on West Coast ports for orderly and timely supply chain operations
by working together to conclude the ongoing contract negotiations so we can then address the
congestion issues at key West Coast ports. With the help of the Deputy Director Beckenbaugh,
we ask for a renewed commitment to stay the course, complete the contract negotiations as soon
as possible and work to resolve the current congestion issues without further interrupting the
flow of commerce.
Sincerely,
Agricultural Retailer Association
Agriculture Transportation Coalition (AgTC)
Agri-Business Council of Oregon
Airforwarders Association
Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers
AMCOT
American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA)
American Association of Exporters and Importers
American Association of Port Authorities
American Cotton Shippers Association
American Farm Bureau Federation
American Forest and Paper Association
American Frozen Food Institute
American Home Furnishings Alliance
American Import Shippers Association
American Pistachio Growers
American Potato Trade Alliance
American Pyrotechnics Association
American Soybean Association
American Trucking Associations
Association of American Railroads
Association of California Recycling Industries
Association of Food Industries
Association of Washington Business
Auto Care Association
Beer Institute
Bicycle Product Suppliers Association
BizFed
CalChamber
California Business Properties Association
California Farm Bureau Federation
California Retailers Association
California Rice Commission
California Trucking Association
California Walnut Commission
CAWA - Representing the Automotive Parts Industry
Columbia River Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association
Coalition of New England Companies for Trade (CONECT)
Consumer Electronics Association
Cookware Manufacturers Association
Corn Refiners Association
Customs Brokers and Forwarders Assoc. of Northern California
Customs Brokers and International Freight Forwarders of Washington State
Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S., Inc.
Express Association of America
Fashion Accessories Shippers Association (FASA)
Food Marketing Institute
Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America (FDRA)
Foreign Trade Association (FTA)
Gamma Industry Processing Alliance (GIPA)
Gemini Shippers Association
Global Automakers