Longshoremen at West Coast ports agreed to a three-year contract extension

The union representing longshoremen at West Coast ports agreed to a three-year contract extension with the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), most likely avoiding a repeat of a 2014-2015 dispute that depressed beef and pork exports.The majority of International Longshore and Warehouse Union members agreed to a first-of-its-kind, three-year contract extension that covers workers at all 29 West Coast ports, the PMA said in a news release.The contract previously was set to expire in 2019, but will be extended to July 1, 2022, subject to final confirmation by the union, which is expected this week.A labor slowdown in 2014 depressed the tonnage for U.S. beef and pork exports by 10 percent in the first three months of 2015, according to estimates at the time by U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) officials. A subsequent report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) said there still was room for operational improvement at West Coast ports when the office studied infrastructure projects and other changes at the facilities late last year.