News / Sigh of relief from US trade as new deal for peace at west coast ports is brokered

© Khunaspix Dreamstime.

A new five-year deal placed on the table on Friday could soon bring an end to the long-running dispute at US west coast ports.

If the deal brokered by US labour secretary Tom Perez and his team is ratified by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union’s (ILWU) 20,000 dockworker members and the Pacific Maritime Association’s employer group, terminal operations at the 29 ports can begin to return to normal.

However, there is an estimated backlog of ships and containers that could take ...