Episodes of exclusive TPM content featuring interviews of key stakeholders and attendees.
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The must-attend conference for the trans-Pacific and global container shipping and logistics community
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Following the three-day strike of East and Gulf ports at the beginning of October and a new Jan. 15 deadline set to conclude a new deal, the industry is bracing for an uncertain path forward. Although employers agreed to a record 62% increase over a six-year contract, that is only “provisional” based on agreement on other highly contentious issues such as automation, royalties, benefits, and jurisdiction. By the time TPM25 rolls around in March, the already-disruptive East and Gulf coast longshore negotiations will hopefully be in the rearview mirror — but not automatically so. Agreement with the International Longshoremen’s Association in early 2025, assuming it happens, will conclude nearly three years of constant US port labor disruption since the ILWU contract on the West Coast expired in July 2022; that triggered months of uncertainty at Los Angeles-Long Beach and other West Coast ports, periodic disruption, and mass diversions by BCOs to alternative ports. The turmoil isn’t limited to US ports, with disruption occurring on the Canadian east and west coasts, as well. Thus, TPM25 should be a moment to take stock of a very active stretch of longshore labor activity and seek to understand the impact on containerized supply chains. Evidence across the automotive, rail, aviation, aerospace, hospitality and other industries points to a heightened period of labor activism, with longer-term implications for freight transportation, especially seaports. Labor will unquestionably be an issue BCOs will need to keep a close eye on, and we’ll thoroughly assess the issue in this session.