USMX, ILA Agree to Extend Negotiations for 90 Days

The director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) announced that USMX and the ILA have agreed to extend negotiations on a new Master Contract through Dec. 29, 90 days beyond the expiration of the current contract.

Statement by FMCS Director George H. Cohen on United States Maritime Alliance and International Longshoremen’s Association Labor Negotiations:

I am pleased to announce that at the close of today’s productive negotiation session, in which progress was made on several important subjects, the parties have agreed to extend the collective bargaining agreement due to expire on September 30, 2012 for a ninety (90) day period, i.e. through December 29, 2012. In taking this significant step, the parties emphasized that they are doing so “for the good of the country” to avoid any interruption in interstate commerce. 

This extension will provide the parties an opportunity to focus on the outstanding core issues in a deliberate manner apart from the pressure of an immediate deadline. The negotiations on the Master Agreement will be conducted during the same time frame as negotiations for local agreements. The negotiations will continue under the auspices of FMCS. Due to the sensitive nature of these high profile negotiations, we will have no further comment on the schedule for the negotiations, their location, or the substance of what takes place during those negotiations.