Dive Brief:
- After an intervention by Labor Secretary Tom Perez, a nine-month dispute has led to a tentative deal between West Coast dockworkers and their employers. That dispute might have saved the U.S. economy from $2 billion in losses per day, which it could have incurred if 29 West Coast ports had shut down.
- The deal involves a five-year contract that, according to the details of an offer from Feb. 4, may include workers' healthcare costs paid in full and a higher maximum pension, but the final details have not yet been announced.
- The unionized dockworkers must still approve the tentative agreement.
Dive Insight:
The U.S. economy dodged a huge bullet on this one. According to The Packer, agricultural exporters have already suffered an estimated $1.75 billion each in December and January due to backups and delays from the dispute. However, even though this tentative agreement could mean ports return to standard operations, it could take six to eight weeks to clear immediate cargo backup and several months before normal traffic operations could resume, according to Reuters. In the meantime, NPR reports that the backed-up shipping traffic could cause millions of pounds of oranges to rot, to the dismay of California citrus growers.