ASA and several other members of the West Coast Port Labor Negations Coalition sent a letter last week once again calling for International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) to quickly conclude a new labor agreement.

The letter emphasized that the situation has a broad negative impact on the U.S. and North American economies and the thousands of importers and exporters who rely on the West Coast ports, and their millions of employees and business partners. Members are concerned by the exchanges in the media and accusations by both sides of improper tactics.

“As customers of your ports, and industries affected by their operations, our members desperately need this negotiation to be concluded and operations returned to normal levels of through-put,” the groups said in comments. “Over the summer months, both sides verbally agreed to work during the negotiations without interruptions. That promise was broken and the consequences have been to the detriment of our collective industries, the economy and our global competitiveness.”

ASA and the West Coast Port Labor Negations Coalition emphasized the issue has created uncertainty across Asia as overseas competitors highlight the problems as a reason not to buy American products.

“Manufacturers in the Midwest have had to slow and even stop production lines due to delays in receiving containers from the West Coast that hold critical inputs,” the groups stated. “Retailers are now seeing delays of early spring merchandise including products for Valentine’s Day and Easter. Supply chains across all of our industry sectors have already been adversely impacted due to events far beyond our control over the past several months. It is a black eye for the broader economy and some jobs have and will continue to be lost as a result of continued delays at the ports.”

ASA and the West Coast Port Labor Negotiations Coalition urge ILWU and PMA to quickly complete the contract negotiations and work to resolve the current congestion issues without further interrupting the flow of commerce.”

Click here to read entire letter.