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6/16/2023
The National Association of Chemical Distributors (NACD) is calling on members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) to quickly ratify the new tentative agreement the organizations reached this week.
The terms of the six-year contract, which covers 22,000 dockworkers at 29 U.S. West Coast ports, have not been released. The dockworkers have been working without a contract since July 1, 2022.
Negotiations began in May 2022. Acting U.S. Labor Secretary Julie Su visited the West Coast this week to help resolve remaining issues. Previously, NACD called on the Biden administration to mediate the labor talks.
"West Coast ports are some of the largest in the nation and serve as critical gateways to the movement of essential products. Any delay or disruption at these ports causes severe strain on businesses of all sizes," said NACD President and CEO Eric Byer in a prepared statement.
"More than a year into these labor contract negotiations, it became clear that the longer these discussions went unresolved, the greater the risk of additional supply-chain challenges, including delivery delays for many chemicals used in products every day by the American consumer," he added.