Fastener Importers Doubt West Coast Dockworker Strike
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West Coast dockworkers are still on the job despite expiration of their union contract with the Pacific Maritime Association.
Fastener importers are confident there will not be a long strike by West Coast dockworkers.
“The parties involved have always worked it out in the past. Everybody has too much to lose if there is a strike,” Bob Sachs of XL Screw told FIN. “Hopefully there will not be a strike.”
“Historically such strikes, if they occur, last one week,” JungXu of Brighton-Best International explained.
“At two weeks, the government gets involved to get the parties to arbitrate, and at one month, the government forces resumption of activities.”
“We carry about 10 months of inventory unhand,” JungXu noted. “We’ve generally found such inventory positions shelter BBI quite well from any labor disputes at the port.”
Brighton-Best also can use Texas, Georgia and New Jersey ports.
In a joint statement, the International Longshore & Warehouse Union and the association stated that both sides “understand the strategic importance of the ports to the local, regional and U.S. economies, and are mindful of the need to finalize a new Coast-wide contract as soon as possible to ensure continuing confidence in the West Coast ports and avoid any disruption to the jobs and commerce they support.”
Bloomberg News reported that unlike previous labor disputes, both the ILWU and the PMA are interested in finding a quick resolution. George Lovell of the University of Washington says there “hasn’t been a lot of saber-rattling on either side,” adding that “this is a climate in which both sides have an interest in getting this settled.”
Bloomberg News noted ports pay higher than the national average.
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