• The principal business of the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) is to negotiate and administer labor agreements with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU). PMA’s 71 members are cargo carriers, terminal operators and stevedores that operate along the U.S. West Coast.

• The PMA and the ILWU have tentatively agreed to a new six-year labor contract, subject to ratification by the memberships of both parties. During the ratification process, the ILWU and PMA have agreed to extend the previous agreement, which dates to 2002.

• Since 2002, overall container volume is up 45 percent. As a result, West Coast port operations (including non-containerized cargo such as bulk and autos) now support 8 million U.S. jobs and contribute 11 percent of the U.S. GDP.

• The domestic business impact of West Coast port trade is $1.3 trillion – roughly equivalent to the GDP of Canada or Mexico.

• As of December 2007, PMA members employed nearly 15,000 registered ILWU workers at 29 West Coast ports in California, Oregon and Washington. The workforce has increased by more than 4,000 since June 2002.

• Average full-time wages for fully registered workers top $136,000 annually. Among individual job classes, the figures for 2007 were as follows:
  • Longshore: $125,461
  • Clerk: $145,731
  • Foreman/walking boss: $200,052

• ILWU members receive a benefits package costing more than $50,000 per employee. This package includes fully paid health care with no premiums or deductibles and 100 percent coverage for standard medical benefits.

These facts and others may be found in the 2012 PMA Annual Report.