Businesses want unions to extend Port labor deal


More than 100 businesses asked the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and Pacific Maritime Association to stretch the terms of their contract.

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“Agreeing early to a long-term contract will provide the stability and predictability our collective members need, while protecting against any self-inflicted harm to the broader U.S. economy,” the group said in a letter, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The group is hoping to avoid the major slowdown of shipping that occurred last year when the two became locked in a labor dispute, nine months after negotiations.

(READ MORE: Portland Business Journal)

The labor clash caused Port of Portland shipments to drop about 36% in 2015.