• TPM25
  • March 2-5, 2025 | Long Beach Convention Center

Michael Angell

Journal of Commerce by S&P Global

Senior Editor-Northeast and Gulf Coast Ports

Michael Angell is a senior editor for the Journal of Commerce, responsible for coverage of Northeast and Gulf Coast ports. He has covered transportation and logistics since 2015, as a US correspondent for TradeWinds and as an editor for FreightWaves. He broke the story about 18 seafarers being stranded on a ship in Baltimore Harbor, which was later picked up by The Washington Post among other media, the subsequent bankruptcy of the ship’s owner, and the seizure of its fleet by the owner’s lenders. His other reporting experience includes Law360, Oil Price Information Service, FactSet and Investor’s Business Daily. He has an undergraduate degree in American literature and studies from the University of California, Los Angeles, and has completed a graduate-level business studies program at Columbia University.

Sessions With Michael Angell

Monday, 3 March

  • 02:50pm - 03:30pm (PST) / 03/mar/2025 10:50 pm - 03/mar/2025 11:30 pm

    North American Longshore Labor: Where Do We Go From Here?

    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.