Labor

Following the announcement to authorize a strike vote last month, union-represented aircraft mechanics and other workers for UPS made that initiative official today.

News that the 20,000-member International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) plan to meet again in early November should be welcomed by West Coast shippers

Although they successfully fended off the first attempt by government and officials from Central States Pension Fund to impose draconian cuts in their pension benefits, Teamsters union retirees say they are not resting on their laurels. Instead, they are preparing a long-term fix to the fund’s fiscal problems.

The dark side of the “Amazon effect” and larger impact made by the explosive growth in e-commerce may soon be seen when organized labor prepares for a massive air cargo strike.

More than 410,000 Teamsters and retirees in 25 states are threatened with pension cuts under a little-known law passed largely in secret in the final days of the last congressional session.

A broad coalition of shippers and other supply chain stakeholders are appealing to West Coast dockside labor and management to begin early discussions on either a contract extension or a new contract with the goal to conclude negotiations before the current contract expires on June 30, 2019.

Spokesmen for the Port of Oakland said they were blind-sided by Ports America Outer Harbor’s decision to file bankruptcy.

Comprehensive survey illustrates trends in utilization of lean programs and pay rates for lean champions.

ALPA said that the new contract takes effect in November and becomes amendable in 2021. And it added that the new contract is comprised of across-the-board increases for hourly pay rates and new-hire compensation, a significant signing bonus, retirement plan enhancements, and work-rule improvements, among other positive modifications.

If you want to meet some of the most ticked-off people on the planet, talk to any trucking industry retiree who received that letter from the Teamsters’ Central States pension plan notifying them of their potential financial haircut coming in retirement.

The California State Senate is withholding pay raises that would have exceeded Pilot's current take home pay of more than $450,000 per annum.

Earlier today, the Independent Pilots Association (IPA), a trade union representing pilots at UPS, said its leadership has called on its 2,528 members to authorize a pilot strike against UPS. It said that if this gets membership approval, the IPA’s five-member executive board would be able to request a release from federally-mediated negotiations with UPS

The U.S. Department of State maintained Thailand’s Tier 3 ranking, the lowest category, in its annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, which was released this week.

The Agriculture Transportation Coalition (AgTC) is among those organizations that have been most strident about seaport reform. When their annual meeting takes place in San Francisco later this month, that mission may become even more urgent…thanks the recent bad faith actions of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) at the Port of Oakland.

Roughly six weeks after the International Warehouse & Longshore Union and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) reached a tentative five-year labor agreement, following nine months of often acrimonious negotiations that led to myriad supply chain and logistics disruptions, the ILWU said late last week that steps are being taken to make the tentative agreement a done deal.