U.S. carrier Network Shipping Ltd. (NWS) violated U.S. shipping regulations when it failed to provide chassis for certain shipments and instead unfairly provided those chassis to its parent company, a produce distributor, multiple produce importers and exporters said in an August complaint to the Federal Maritime Commission. The companies said they suffered $2 million in damages and costs "in connection with dumping, inspection, transportation, and lost sales of the perished cargo" due to NWS' actions, the report said.
Canada's International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA) reached a new tentative labor agreement days after ILWU members voted against the previous tentative deal, ILWU Canada and BCMEA announced July 30. BCMEA said both sides are again "recommending ratification of the collective agreement to the union’s membership and member employers."
Rebecca Dye of the Federal Maritime Commission proposed new sets of best practices for ocean carriers and marine terminal operators at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and the Port of New York and New Jersey, covering activities surrounding container returns, earliest return dates and container pickups.
UPS and the Teamsters union, which represents UPS employees, reached a tentative five-year collective bargaining agreement, the two sides announced July 25, ending the possibility of a strike at the beginning of next month. The agreement covers union employees in "small-package roles," UPS said, and will need to be approved and rarified by union members. The Teamsters said voting will take place from Aug. 3 to Aug. 22.
The International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada will have a "Stop Work" meeting on July 25 to recommend the settlement terms to its members, ILWU Canada said in a statement July 21. The ILWU Canada Longshore Caucus approved the terms as originally proposed July 13 by a federal mediator, the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA) said in a statement (see 2307130038). The caucus had initially rejected the terms, leading to a short-lived resumption of a strike by dockworkers at Canadian West Coast ports (see 2307190031 and 2307200050).
International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada said late on July 19 that it has "removed" a notice that it would be again be striking at Canadian West Coast ports beginning July 22. The 72-hour strike notice had been issued earlier that day (see 2307190031). The ILWU did not respond for further comment.
The rejection of a settlement led to a short-lived resumption of a strike by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada at Canadian West Coast ports, but the strike is again on hold after the Canada Industrial Relations Board ruled the strike illegal and ILWU Canada issued a 72-hour notice that the strike will begin again July 22.
The British Columbia Maritime Employers Association and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada have reached a tentative agreement after accepting settlement terms from federal mediators on July 13, according to a tweet from Canadian Minister of Labour Seamus O'Regan Jr.
The Federal Maritime Commission is seeking public comments on a new web portal, mandated by the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022, that would collect "comments, complaints, concerns, reports of noncompliance, requests for investigation, and requests for alternative dispute resolution,” it said in a notice this week. The FMC is asking for feedback on "ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected," the "use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology to minimize the information collection burden," and more, the notice said. Comments are due by Sept. 11.
Hapag-Lloyd violated U.S. shipping regulations by failing to establish adequate facilities to return empty containers to the Port of New York and New Jersey and unfairly charging detention and demurrage for containers caught in the "logistical paralysis" of its own making, Rahal International said in a June 30 complaint to the Federal Maritime Commission. Rahal, an Illinois-based importer and distributor of fruit and vegetable juices, said backlogs and delays created by the shipping line damaged some of its juice shipments, leading to hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages.