The contract negotiations between the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) are on hold for two days so union members can attend to an unrelated event. 

A joint release issued by both parties Friday said that after several days of ongoing talks, both parties would break from negotiations on Monday and Tuesday in order for the ILWU to convene its previously scheduled Longshore Division Caucus in San Francisco.

The talks are due to resume on Wednesday.

The statement also gave advance notice that no talks would take place from July 28 to August 1 so that the ILWU could resume other contract negotiations in the Pacific Northwest.

The previous labor contract covering nearly 20,000 longshore workers at 29 West Coast ports expired at the beginning of the month.

Although there is no contract extension in place, both parties have pledged to keep cargo moving.

The coast-wide labor contract is between employers who operate port terminals and shipping lines represented by the PMA and dockworkers represented by the ILWU.

The release also stated the parties had negotiated a West Coast collective bargaining agreement since the 1930s.

Photo: Port of Long Beach - Wikimedia Commons

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