After a very prolonged period of negotiations, the Pacific Maritime
Association (PMA) and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union
(ILWU) announced Friday February 20, 2015 that they have reached a tentative
agreement on a new five-year contract for the workers at all 29 West Coast
ports.
The question is, “how much money did this port issue cost the
fashion industry?” Although we do not know the exact answer to this question,
it is fair to say that this issue had a hefty price tag for the apparel
industry.
The delay of freight had a negative impact on various
segments of the industry. Manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers of
clothing, footwear, and accessories had each been effected by the slowdown at
the ports.
Clothing factories may have received late payments from their
buyers when freight did not arrive to their final destination in time.
Wholesalers may have received charge
backs from fashion retailers when orders
had been delivered later than originally agreed. As freight was delayed at
port, shipments to the clothing stores had arrived
later than originally needed which possibly resulted in lost retail sales.
These are only a few of the possibly ramifications.
It would be difficult to determine the exact amount of money lost by the apparel industry resulting from the port labor dispute. However, Apparel Search is relatively sure that it was rather substantial.
After a prolonged period of negotiations, the Pacific
Maritime Association (PMA) and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union
(ILWU) announced Friday that they have reached a tentative agreement on a new
five-year contract for the workers at all 29 West Coast ports.
The five-year deal between the International Longshore and
Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association, representing shipping
companies and port terminal operators, involves 29 ports from San Diego to
Seattle. They handle about one-quarter of all U.S. international trade, much of
it with Asia.
You can learn more about apparel industry freight
issues in the shipping section.
Read more of our apparel industry blog posts.
Read more of our apparel industry blog posts.