Long Beach, L.A. & Other West Coast Ports' Terminal Mgm't & ILWU Negotiators Reach Tentative Agreement, Terms Not Immediately Disclosed, Deal Requires Approval By ILWU Rank/File

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Long Beach, L.A. And Other West Coast Ports' Terminal Mgm't & ILWU Negotiators Reach Tentative Agreement, Terms Not Immediately Disclosed, Deal Requires Approval By ILWU Rank/File

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(Feb. 20, 2015) -- As flashed earlier tonight on LBREPORT.com's front page (www.LBREPORT.com), faced with an Obama administration deadline to reach an agreement by tonight in their protracted contract negotiations or face negotiations in Washington, DC, negotiators for ILWU (dock workers union) and PMA (terminal operators.management) reached a tentative agreement.

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The action averts a shutdown LB, LA and other west coast ports and is expected to ease the cargo bottleneck (evident with 20+ cargo ships anchored offshore in Long Beach) created by (management said) union slow downs and (union said) management actions plus other separate congesting factors.

Below is the text of a joint statement from the Pacific Maritime Association (management) and the Int'l Longshore Warehouse Union:

[Joint statement] The Pacific Maritime Association and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union today announced a tentative agreement on a new five-year contract covering workers at all 29 West Coast ports. The deal was reached with assistance from U.S. Secretary of Labor Tom Perez and Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service Deputy Director Scot Beckenbaugh. The parties will not be releasing details of the agreement at this time. The agreement is subject to ratification by both parties. "After more than nine months of negotiations, we are pleased to have reached an agreement that is good for workers and for the industry," said PMA President James McKenna and ILWU President Bob McEllrath in a joint statement. "We are also pleased that our ports can now resume full operations.