{"id":516322,"date":"2026-11-02T20:32:30","date_gmt":"2026-11-02T20:32:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/516322\/"},"modified":"2026-11-02T20:32:30","modified_gmt":"2026-11-02T20:32:30","slug":"strike-at-busiest-us-port-just-days-away-as-talks-continue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/516322\/","title":{"rendered":"Strike at busiest US port just days away as talks continue"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Pacific Maritime Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union<\/a> Local 26 have signed a contract<\/a> extension through 5 p.m. Pacific Time on Wednesday, Nov. 4, temporarily postponing a potential work stoppage<\/a> at the ports<\/a> of Los Angeles and Long Beach while negotiations continue.<\/p>\n

The two sides will continue bargaining with assistance from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. The agreement provides additional time for talks but does not resolve the underlying labor dispute.<\/p>\n

Local 26 represents approximately 250 watchmen who perform security-related duties at port terminals. According to PMA, those facilities handle roughly 85% of cargo moving through the Port of Long Beach and 33% at the Port of Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

PMA said it remains committed to reaching a fair agreement at the bargaining table and avoiding disruption at the two ports, the busiest U.S. container hubs.<\/p>\n

The watchmen\u2019s previous agreement expired in July 2025, and employees have continued working under extensions while the union and employers negotiate a replacement. Local 26 members had authorized a potential strike ahead of the previous Nov. 1 deadline, according to PMA.<\/p>\n

In an Oct. 23 letter, Local 26 President Luisa Gratz said negotiations with employers and PMA had been underway since 2025 without producing an agreement.<\/p>\n

The union members earn an average of $170,000 a year. The sides hasn\u2019t disclosed exact issues in the negotiations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The watchmen\u2019s negotiations are separate from the broader West Coast longshore labor agreement, which runs through 2028 and covers approximately 22,000 workers at 29 ports.<\/p>\n

Although the watchmen account for about 2% of the ILWU workforce at the two ports, their role at major terminals creates the potential for a wider disruption. PMA has warned that other ILWU members could honor picket lines in the event of a strike, potentially interrupting vessel, yard and gate operations at affected facilities.<\/p>\n

Why it matters: The extension gives negotiators more time to resolve a dispute involving about 250 watchmen at terminals handling substantial shares of Los Angeles and Long Beach cargo.<\/p>\n

Read more articles by Stuart Chirls\u00a0here.<\/a><\/p>\n

Read more:<\/p>\n

New Georgia hub aims to take 26,000 containers off the road<\/a><\/p>\n

Schneider to shift eastern rail business to Norfolk Southern from CSX<\/a><\/p>\n

U.S. rail traffic up 7.8% as intermodal leads gainers<\/a><\/p>\n

9 alleged Mexican Cartel associates arrested in California train theft ring\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

CPKC reports record revenue on strength of grain and intermodal traffic<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Pacific Maritime Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 26 have signed a contract extension through…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":516323,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[4554,151884,845,131,133,132,197060,86,3236],"class_list":["post-516322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-container-shipping","tag-international-longshore-and-warehouse-union","tag-labor","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news","tag-port-of-los-angeles-long-beach","tag-strike","tag-trade"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516322","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=516322"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516322\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/516323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=516322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=516322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=516322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}