Federal Mediator To Assist In Stalled Talks Between Port Workers, Shipping Companies
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — A federal mediator is stepping in to help negotiate contract talks between West Coast dockworkers and shipping companies.
The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service announced late Monday it would be assisting in the contract talks at the request of both parties.
"We are prepared and ready to render prompt assistance," the agency's acting director said. "Deputy Director Scot Beckenbaugh, a senior FMCS mediator with extensive collective bargaining experience in this industry, has been assigned to help the parties bring these important negotiations to a mutually acceptable resolution."
No information was released about dates and locations of planned negotiating sessions.
Local officials hailed the mediator's involvement.
"We are pleased that the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association have agreed to enter mediation," Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia said in a joint statement. "It's in everyone's best interest that goods keep flowing and people are working at our ports, which have a profound impact on our regional and national economies.
"We all want a contract that's fair to the industry, its workers and the Ports of L.A. and Long Beach, and we are hopeful that the involvement of a federal mediator is the missing piece needed to get one signed," the mayors said.
Since May, ILWU has been unable to reach a labor agreement with the Pacific Maritime Association, which represents shippers whose container vessels call on West Coast ports and requested the mediator after talks stalled, KNX 1070's Margaret Carrero reports.
The Pacific Maritime Association has accused the ILWU of engaging in a work slowdown at the ports of Long Angeles and Long Beach and other seaports in the Pacific Northwest while the negotiations dragged on. The union has denied the allegation, saying the congestion at the ports was caused by a series of factors, including the outsourcing of container chassis -- the steel frames fitting with wheels that hold shipping containers.
Los Angeles City Councilman Joe Buscaino, who represents the port area, said it is critical to avoid "a deterioration in talks and arrive at an agreement as quickly as possible."
"I am hopeful that we will come to a resolution that ensures continued growth of these valuable jobs that strengthen the future of our community and its economy," he said.
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