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West Coast port labor deal provides certainty for exports

A tentative agreement has been reached to end 13 months of labor talks between the Pacific Maritime Association and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, easing concerns about supply chain disruptions.

Dan Halstrom, president and CEO of the US Meat Export Federation says the deal is monumental for the U.S. red meat industry.  “A huge percentage of our business especially value-added chilled business, which is our highest value business for both beef and pork goes off the West Coast for Asian markets like Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China,” he says. 

He says the deal provides much-needed certainty for U.S. customers.  “Before this agreement was reached, there was a large level of uncertainty,” he says. “Will my shipment be delayed? Will it be passed over and skip a week? These are the sorts of things that were implied since a year ago when the contract expired.”

Earlier this week Acting U.S. Secretary of Labor Julie Su was dispatched to assist in keeping both parties talking to help them reach an agreement. 

The agreement, which covers all West Coast ports, still needs to be ratified by both sides.  The ILWU and PMA declined to provide details of the six-year contract.

The audio used to write this story was courtesy of the U.S. Meat Export Federation.