LA-Long Beach Port Watchmen Strike Threat Pushed to Friday

The contract deadline for union security workers at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and their maritime employers has been pushed back to Friday, again prolonging the threat of a potential strike at the San Pedro Bay docks.

Early Thursday, the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) announced it had agreed with the Local 26 branch of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) to extend their negotiations through through midnight Pacific time on Friday, Nov. 6.

Last week, the two parties agreed to extend the deadline from Sunday till Wednesday.

The ILWU Local 26 represents roughly 250 watchmen employed at terminals responsible for about more than half of the combined cargo at the Southern California ports. The watchmen represent roughly 2 percent of the ILWU employees who work at the ports.

Negotiations will continue Friday with the help of federal mediators, the PMA said.

The union has not commented throughout the negotiations.

The PMA, which represents the marine terminal operators and ocean carriers, contends that a labor stoppage would put the terminals’ operations at risk.

The watchmen handle gate security and cargo watch duties, sitting at the entry and exit points for containers to move in and out of some of the busiest terminals in the U.S.

The impacted terminals handle roughly 85 percent of the cargo moving through the Port of Long Beach and 33 percent at the Port of Los Angeles, the PMA says.

“PMA remains committed to reaching a fair agreement at the bargaining table that avoids disruption at the nation’s two busiest ports,” the association said in a statement.

The port watchmen have a separate contract from the rest of the ILWU union workers who secured a six-year contract in summer 2023. That agreement covers more than 22,000 longshore workers at 29 ports across the West Coast. Since that contract is retroactive to July 1, 2022, it will expire on July 1, 2028.

Local 26’s deal expired in July last year, with the security guards working under an extension in the time since.

The parties have met regularly for talks for more than a year but there has not been any progress on a deal, according to the PMA. The maritime employers say the full-time watchmen earn an average of more than $170,000 with fully paid health care and pension benefits.

Officials at both ports are not part of the contract, but have acknowledged that they are following along.

The Port of Los Angeles said in a statement that it encourages all parties to continue negotiating in good faith toward a mutually acceptable resolution.

“We recognize the importance of reaching an agreement that serves the interests of the parties involved while ensuring the continued movement of cargo through our port,” said a port spokesperson. “We remain hopeful that an agreement can be reached without any disruption to operations.”

In a statement, Port of Long Beach CEO Noel Hacegaba said port officials are closely monitoring the negotiations and remain hopeful both sides will reach an agreement soon.

“While the affected watchmen provide security within individual terminals, port-wide security provided by the Harbor Patrol and the Long Beach Police Department continues uninterrupted during negotiations,” said Hacegaba. “Although the Port of Long Beach is not a party to the negotiations, we want to assure our customers that we remain committed to moving cargo through our port safely and reliably.”