Longshoremen's union has tentative agreement

A top federal mediator announced late Friday that the International Longshoremen's Association and the U.S. Maritime Alliance have reached a tentative agreement on a new, six-year union contract covering more 14,500 dockworkers at 15 major Gulf and East Coast container ports from Houston to Boston.

The current contract, which had twice been extended at the last minute, is set to expire on Wednesday.

"I am extremely pleased to announce that the parties have reached a tentative agreement for a comprehensive successor master agreement," said George H. Cohen, director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, in a statement. "The tentative agreement is subject to the ratification procedures of both parties and, as well, to agreements being achieved in a number of local union negotiations."

Cohen said those local negotiations "are ongoing and will continue without interruption to any port operation."

The longshoremen's union, which hasn't held a walkout since 1977, had threatened to strike both times the expiration date of the current contract neared, sparking concern among retailers, ports and other businesses about what could have been a devastating blow to the supply chain. The Port of Houston Authority had been preparing to shut down the two container terminals that generate a majority of its revenue.

In the statement, Cohen declined to outline the details of the tentative agreement, which he said was "out of respect for the parties' ratification processes, and consistent with the agency's long-standing confidentiality policy."

The ports covered under the contract, including Houston, New Orleans, Miami and New York/New Jersey, move about 40 percent of the nation's container cargo.

Jonathan Gold, vice president of supply chain and customs policy for the National Retail Federation, which had been pushing for a resolution, said the trade association is "pleased."

"We encourage them to quickly conclude the local negotiations and ratify the new contract," Gold told the Houston Chronicle in an e-mailed statement. "The new contract will bring certainty back to the supply chain and provide relief to the nation's retailers, manufacturers, farmers and others who have been dealing with the continuing threat of a port shutdown."