As the World Turns. We recently reported on the critical status of the Labor negotiations in West Coast Ports (both the U.S. & Canada). On the U.S. side, on June 14, 2023, the International Longshore & Warehouse Union (ILWU) reached a tentative agreement with the employers of the shipping industry on the West (Pacific) Coast, the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA). That agreement is still in ILWU Committees before being presented to the rank-and-file for a vote.
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The story on the Canadian side has unraveled. A strike was called on July 1, by the ILWU-Canada and the representative organization of the employers in the Canadian Ports: the BCPMA. After Federal mediators quickly forged a tentative agreement on July 13, the dockworkers went back on the job. Then the Union stunningly rejected the agreement after only 5 days in Committee on July 18 and sent the members immediately back to the picket lines. This action then prompted the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) to declare the action by the Union illegal, essentially accusing them of negotiating in bad faith by going back off the job instead of giving sufficient notice of such action (typically 72 hours). The members then went back to work the next day, July 19. On the 21st, the ILWU announced there would be a Stop Work meeting scheduled for July 25 at 0800 hours. No status updates have yet been forthcoming at the time of this publication.
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The smooth operation of the West Coast Ports is of crucial importance to shippers, but maybe more significantly to retailers, as the cargo most affected by this labor instability for supply chains has been Containers. And although A+A Price imports all our 100% Natural Biomass Firestarters and Odorless, Hydrocarbon Firestarters from Europe to Ports on the East Coast and the Gulf (these Ports are under separate operations and unions), supply chain insecurity can ripple through the entire system. And importers of Firestarters from China may be seeing shortages and dry shelves.
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We here at A+A Price, a North American Distributor of 100% Natural Biomass Firestarters and Odorless, Hydrocarbon Firestarters are rather more inclined to celebrate barbeque as a most enjoyable way of cooking and entertaining, and the summer season for which our Firelighter products are made for: Backyard-Style Grilling.
The quintessential All-American activity. Invented in America (although smoking meat over a pit predates colonial times), It consists of a grill, accessories, a backyard patio, a wide variety of meats and vegetables with plenty of friends & family to come and enjoy our favorite grilling styles. And it owes its existence to the coming together of three critical “technologies” over a period of about 25 years:
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1-The invention of Charcoal Briquets in the mid-1920s. and it’s marketization by Henry Ford’s cousin’s husband Edward G. Kingsford.
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2-The revolution and construction in affordable Suburban Housing 
in the 1950’s with backyard lawns and patios, not front-facing porches, is where families began to gather.
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3-The invention of the Weber Grill In 1954, an inventive griller named George Stephen,
working as a welder at Weber Brothers Metal Works, cut a Lake Bouey in half, welded 
on 3 legs, installed an adjustable vent on the bottom and fitted the other half over it with a cut-vent lid and an attached wooden handle.
Grilling in America has evolved into a unique dining experience as well into a $2.75 billion a year marketplace as of 2021. And is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) worldwide at 4.8%.

We’ll report on the Canadian Dockworkers as events progress. In the meantime, we will be celebrating and enjoy grilling by successfully distributing eco-friendly 100% Natural Biomass Firestarters and Odorless, Hydrocarbon Firestarters to you and for your customers to enjoy. We prefer happy summer days with a Backyard Barbeque Grill cooking for friends and family.

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