· The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) appear to have reached a stalemate in contact negations in the US and Canada. The west coast ports of the US including Long Beach and Los Angles have alleged that since Friday June 2, 2023 that ILWU employees have created slowdowns virtually forcing a closure to these ports and are also affecting locations including Tacoma, Seattle and Oakland. The ILWU has denied these claims and have advised “any reports that negotiations have broken down are false”
· Now the ILWU in Canada plans to request a vote for strike by the end of this week. They had requested when there had been no meaningful progress in reaching a contract that the Canadian government provide help to reach a deal, however since this time no agreement has been reached. This would affect the ports of Vancouver and Prince Ruppert.
· Any strike or work stoppage would have a rippling affect in the industry as this could leave lots of cargo stranded for long periods of time, likely incurring demurrage as the days went on.
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