Port Labor Negotiations Continue

This week it is reported that the International Longshoremen and Warehouse Union will be holding a coast-wide caucus where the union’s leaders are expected to decide whether to bring the contract terms negotiated to date to a vote of its full membership. Meanwhile the congestion and delays continue up and down the West Coast at multiple ports.
The U.S. meat industry has been watching these developments very closely as U.S. Meat Export Federation President and CEO Philip Seng says
Seng: “Nearly 80 percent of our beef and pork go through these ports so it is extremely important to us. There has already been disruptions, we know that our exporters are having to adjust loads in order to find carriers. Keep in mind that we export about $600 million of red meat a month that is leaving the West Coast. So the sooner that we could see some resolution for this issue the better that it will be for not only for the packer and the exporters but also for the producers because this trickles down to your individual farm.”
Another challenge with the delays and cancellations from our ports is the possibility of our international customers questioning U.S. reliability as Seng continues
Seng: “Any disruption like this is very disturbing not only to the exporter but is ti also a major concern for our importers. And these are things that we talk about being a reliable supplier, it calls us in to question. I recall years ago when Australia use to have some horrendous strikes, people were switching from Australian product as a result of the strikes they were having. So this is very serious to us as far as our credibility and reliability in these international markets.”