PUBLISHER: The Load Star (www.theloadstar.com)
An incensed US trade union has responded to a Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) proposal, to extend the current contract by another year, with a long list of headlines reporting the massive profits being enjoyed by ocean carriers.
PMA president and CEO James McKenna wrote to International Longshore Warehouse Union (ILWU) president Willie Adams last week, and said that, given the history of west coast negotiations over the past 20 years: “There is already a perception among the trade community that negotiations are likely to result in some kind of disruption.”
According to Mr McKenna, that perception could have a disruptive effect on an already “fragile” supply chain, and the PMA fears that such disruption could lead to government intervention.