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ILWU Watchmen May Strike at LA/Long Beach, With Effects on Half the Port

Port
Courtesy Green Fire Productions / CC BY 2.0

By The Maritime Executive 2026-10-27 23:36:55

A union representing security watchmen at the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach has warned that it will go on strike if talks on a new collective bargaining contract aren't wrapped up by Sunday, according to the employers' group Pacific Maritime Association. The union local is small, but its 250 members are spread out across the most important container terminal complex in the United States, and a strike could affect about half of the facilities in LA/Long Beach. 

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 26 has been in talks with the PMA on the terms of a new labor contract since last year, but have not reached a satisfactory agreement, even with the help of federal mediation. PMA says that "significant differences" remain between the two sides' positions. 

The employers' association said that it will continue to negotiate with the union's leadership in hopes of averting industrial action. 

The timing of a strike this weekend - even if the union's numbers are small - would be unwelcome for terminals and for cargo interests. The container terminals at LA and Long Beach are busier than they have ever been before, and have been getting extra business due to recent drought-driven disruption at the Panama Canal. Holiday-season shipments continue to flood in at the ports, and a walkout of key staff could generate significant disruption, especially if other unions join in solidarity - as is expected, the PMA told the Wall Street Journal. 

The San Pedro Bay port complex is America's biggest container-terminal hub. Both the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach posted record numbers in September, led by a surge in imported goods: together they handled a combined two million TEU over the course of the month. The whole summer and fall were strong: July through September was the Port of Los Angeles' busiest quarter on record. 

In addition to the disruption at the Panama Canal, federal policy played a role in the cargo surge, port officials said. "Tariffs are lower than the levels we saw earlier this year and last, giving importers more certainty on cost and allowing them to replenish inventories at a quicker rate," Port of LA executive director Gene Seroka told the LA Times. 

Top image: Green Fire Production / CC BY 2.0