ILWU Clerical Workers, Employers to Keep Talking

Office clerical workers and waterfront employers in Los Angeles-Long Beach have agreed to continue negotiating throughout the month of September.

In an announcement published on its Web site, the Los Angeles/Long Beach Harbor Employers Association released the following statement regarding its contract negotiations with the Office Clerical Unit of International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 63:

“The parties have agreed to a negotiation schedule that encompasses the next three weeks. Our next update will be sent on Wednesday, Sept. 26.”

The OCU, which represents clerical employees of shipping lines and terminal operators, has been working without a contract since June 2010. Although negotiations have been sporadic the past two years, the two parties began meeting in earnest last month and have been negotiating regularly since then.

- Bill Mongelluzzo, The Journal of Commerce.