Alarmed by the negative impact on the US economy of Deadlock in negotiations for the renewal of workers' contracts ports on the west coast of the USA, resulting in repeated stoppages of activity in the main airports of the West Coast, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has requested the intervention of the President Joe Biden. The President of the Chamber of Commerce American Suzanne Clark sent a letter to the White House urging the Federal Administration to take immediate action in negotiations, which for the employer are entrusted to the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) and Trade Union Association to the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), appointing a independent mediator.

In his letter to Biden, Clark explains that "the House of U.S. Trade Is Very Concerned About Stocks premeditated and destructive that are slowing down activities in several major ports on the west coast during the Ongoing contract negotiations between International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association. As it lasts and the possible extension of service interruptions in these Ports as you approach the high season of transport Maritime, we urge your administration to intervene immediately and appoint an independent mediator to help two parties to reach an agreement that prevents economic damage significant to American families and the economy."

In the letter, the president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce recalls that 'the current round of labour negotiations is started in May 2022 and, although there have been the first steps Next on health care and other benefits - Clark explains, reports indicate that negotiations on the pay and other benefits are at a standstill." Clark points out that "isolated union-led demonstrations Clubs in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have begun to April, and those actions are now spreading with stoppages and intermittent slowdowns in the main terminals seafarers in the ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach, Oakland and Seattle, among others. Such intermittent actions give rise to concern that more substantial disruptions are imminent."

In the letter Clark recalls how the difficulty of reach an agreement between the parties in the past caused the stoppage of port activities and consequent damage to the economy, with negotiations that in recent years in some cases have been unblocked thanks to the intervention of a federal mediator, "With the intervention of the government that became necessary to resolve two of the last three negotiations'.

The president of the Chamber of Commerce stressed that "a significant interruption of work in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach would likely cost the U.S. economy nearly half billion dollars a day and a longer strike The West Coast could cost about a billion dollars a day'. Clark also pointed out that already from the Last summer many carriers started diverting cargo to the ports of the East Coast and the Gulf in anticipation of potential work disruptions at West Coast airports, and Given that negotiations on the employment contract are at a point dead, it is increasingly feared that the diversion of loads It could become permanent.