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