Local 1484 members ratify industry-leading contract at MTC/Ports America

IAM Local 1484 members at MTC/Ports America, located at the Port of Los Angeles West Basin Container Terminal, ratified a new four year agreement that delivers major wage and
benefit gains for 50 power, reefer, and chassis mechanics.

The previous agreement, negotiated five years ago, was set to expire June 30. Since then, inflation and other IAM port agreements helped establish new wage and benefit standards.

“Those benchmarks made it possible to substantially increase wages and benefits for these
members,” said Area Director Kevin Kucera. “And
that’s exactly what happened.”

Effective July 1, 2026, the standard dayside Journeyman wage will rise from $56.12 to $70.87 an hour — a $14.75, or 26.28%, increase. Wages will climb 34% over the agreement’s term.

The contract also includes year-over-year increases in 401(k) contributions. Members ratified the agreement on May 13 by more than 80%.

Kucera credited the rank-and-file members and IAM Union Shop Stewards and Negotiators Juan Pina and Chris Christensen for their work. “They did an outstanding job representing these negotiations, from developing our IAM Union proposals to addressing the issues most import ant to our members. Chris and Juan are truly the
next generation of union leaders who inspire me,” Kucera said.

Kucera said the agreement reflects both the strong skills of Local 1484 members and the labor-management partnership.

“IAM Local 1484 has developed a longstanding partnership with MTC/Ports America over many decades,” said Kucera. “In addition to having some of the most highly skilled and experienced IAM mechanics, that partnership is why we achieved such an outstanding, industry-leading agreement.

Pension Seminar

Local 1414 awards three 2026 scholarships

To show its commitment to training students to become part of the automotive industry, Local 1414 helped relaunch the Automotive Shop program at George Washington High School in San Francisco. Each year, the Local grants awards that include a toolbox filled with quality tools to three promising students with the potential for becoming successful mechanics.

The annual Machinists Union Local 1414 Scholarship is open to all San Francisco Unified School District graduating automotive students from G. Washington High School’s Automotive program. This year, Ezra Wolf, Sebastian Cardona Hernandez and Wallace Starkweather attended Local 1414’s general meeting and received their tools and toolboxes.

Sebastian, who graduated from Lowell High School and attended the after-school auto shop classes at Washington High School, wrote in his winning essay that “receiving this scholarship would help me financially because attending Skyline Automotive College requires that students have their own hand tools. Coming from the Bayview-Hunters Point area and a low-income, first-generation family, I know that receiving a tool box scholarship would help raise the ceiling for my future as an auto motive technician.”

If you have tools tool boxes or vehicles to donate to the Washington High School auto motive program, please contact Rich Del Rosso at delrossos@sfusd.edu. All donations are tax-deductible.