International Dockworkers Council (IDC)

Consejo Internacional de Estibadores

The IDC stands in solidarity with the ILWU in their West Coast contract negotiations with PMA which started in May 2014 and have been extended since July 1 when the contract expired.

Despite the fact that the ILWU has been bargaining in good faith, the IDC is concerned with PMA’s attitude and the most recent news on the dishonest media offensive by PMA accusing the ILWU of breaking a supposed agreement between the two parties to carry out normal operations which are jeopardizing the contract negotiations and deflecting from the growing congestion problem at key ports in the West Coast.

The ILWU has stated that such an agreement was never reached and in historical perspective it could have never been made since the definition of “normal operations” has been a source of disagreement between the parties.

On the other hand, as pointed out by the ILWU in their statement from November 3, and by industry experts, such congestion has been caused due to employer mismanagement, namely, a decision by the employers to change the business model used to maintain and allocate truck chassis – causing chassis shortages and dislocations and congestion at Los Angeles-Long Beach terminals, a shortage of truck drivers needed to move containers at ports and a shortage of rail car capacity.

The ILWU is a reference worldwide for their historic work defending dockworkers rights, international solidarity and militant and democratic unionism.

The IDC will fully support the ILWU along the contract negotiations for a good contract for all the West Coast dockworkers and will organize any actions deemed necessary to protect dockworkers rights in the West Coast.

For more information, contact:

Susana Busquets, IDC Coordination Office Ph: +34 93 225 25 28

E-mail: coordination@idcdockworkers.org