After resuming strikes in British Columbia yesterday, ILWU workers are once again back at work today (July 20th) after a ruling from the Canada Industrial Relations Board ordered dockworkers back for failing to provide a 72-hour strike notice. The ILWU is expected to resume its strike on Saturday, July 22nd. Shapiro will continue to monitor […]

Last week, Canada’s Minister of Labour, Seamus O’Regan, and Minister of Transport, Omar Alghabra, issued a joint statement advising that the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA) had accepted a joint deal with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU). However, the leadership of the ILWU has now suggested that their members vote the recommended terms down. The leadership cited […]

Dock workers at ports along the Pacific Coast of Canada have accepted a tentative wage deal on Thursday, July 13th to end strikes at the country’s busiest ports. This news comes after The British Columbia Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA) released a statement about the agreement earlier today.   The strike primarily affected the Port of Vancouver […]

The Canadian International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) has given notice for a strike to commence at 8am on July 1, 2023. Negotiations between ownership, the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA), and the ILWU are being moderated by Canada’s Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS), but it remains unclear if any early progress has […]

Last night, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) revealed they had finally reached a tentative contract agreement after 13 long months of tumultuous and turbulent negotiations. According to the announcement, both sides have informally agreed to a six-year contract that covers all 29 West Coast ports. Although the […]

Several West Coast ports were closed without notice on Friday, June 2 in response to ongoing wage disputes between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA). Additionally, Total Terminals International (TTI) has cancelled all gates today (Monday, June 5). At this time, this is a fluid situation, and it […]

An insufficient number of International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 13 crane operators and top handler drivers reported for work at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach as of 5:00 PM Pacific Standard Time (PST) on Thursday, April 6, 2023. Any ILWU workers that did report for their shift as scheduled were […]

Today, President Joe Biden signed legislation—originally approved in Congress earlier this week—to prevent a massive rail strike from devastating the US economy. The bill passed in the House (290-137) on Wednesday (November 30); and was approved by the Senate (80-15) on Thursday. Biden had been urging lawmakers to pass the bill after railway workers announced […]

The New York Times has reported that on Tuesday, Democratic and Republican leaders in Congress have vowed to intervene to prevent a US rail strike. President Biden went as far as pushing Congress to impose the latest negotiated deal for the four unions rejecting the current offer; eight of the 12 unions representing 115,000 rail workers […]

Shapiro has received multiple reports that US rail workers from two of the biggest labor unions are preparing to strike once the cooling off period expires this Friday, September 16—which may cause significant delays and disruptions for US supply chains. Although Biden issued an Executive Order in July to establish the Presidential Emergency Board (PEB), […]

Shapiro has received multiple reports that workers at two of the busiest container ports in the United Kingdom (UK)—Felixstowe and Liverpool—have voted to strike as a result of ongoing wage disputes, which will likely cause delays and disruptions for UK supply chains. Beginning Sunday, August 21st, approximately 1,900 workers at the Port of Felixstowe will […]

Shapiro has received multiple reports that a group of truckers responsible for moving containers in and out of the marine terminals at the Los Angeles and Long Beach (LA/LB) ports is participating in a work stoppage today (Wednesday, July 13) in protest of a controversial California state law, AB5. Owner operators are protesting outside the […]

Over the weekend, a deadly fire erupted at the BM Container Depot in southeastern Bangladesh, killing at least 49 people and injuring more than 300 others. The shipping container facility is in Sitakunda, near the port city of Chittagong. The cause of the fire is still unknown; however, officials believe that the facility became engulfed […]

Update as of 4/4/22: The lockdown in Shanghai has been extended indefinitely as results of the city-wide COVID testing are still being reviewed, leaving Chinese supply chains in a state of uncertainty. The lockdown in Shanghai Pudong was initially set for March 28th – April 1st, with Shanghai Puxi following from April 1st – 5th. […]

With consideration to the recent horrific developments between Russia and Ukraine, the advice from the government, and the newly imposed sanctions, Shapiro has elected to suspend handling brokerage and forwarding services for all goods originating or shipping to/from Russia, Belarus, and the Donetsk/Luhansk/Crimea regions of Ukraine. For imports, this change will be effective for shipments […]

China is currently facing its largest COVID outbreak since the pandemic initially broke out in 2020. Despite its success combating the virus with a “zero-tolerance” policy thus far, the Chinese government has been unable to contain the highly contagious Omicron variant sweeping across the country in recent weeks. In response to the rapid spike in […]

Another outbreak of COVID-19 threatens port operations in the city of Ningbo after several positive cases were reported at a clothing factory over the weekend. As a result of the spike in cases, a partial lockdown has been put in place for certain parts of the district of Beilun—which is home to some of Ningbo’s […]

The ports of Los Angeles (LA) and Long Beach (LB) announced that the “Container Dwell Fee” would once again be postponed until January 17, 2022. The fee was originally announced in late October and set to take effect earlier in November, but has been repeatedly delayed after the ports observed a noticeable clearing of backlogged […]

As previously mentioned in our most recent Shap Talk, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have announced a “Container Access Dwell Fee,” also called an “Emergency Storage Fee” to be imposed on November 1st. Carriers will be expected to pay a fee of $100 on the 9th day of dwell time for each […]

The Ningbo Meidong Container Terminal, also called Meishan Terminal, has suspended all inbound and outbound services after an employee received a positive COVID-19 test on Tuesday, August 10th. The terminal is one of five in the port of Ningbo. The closure restricts shippers from picking up empty equipment or gating-in containers. While some industry leaders […]