Statement by FMCS Director George H. Cohen on United States Maritime Alliance And International Longshoremen’s Association Labor Negotiations  WASHINGTON, D.C. — “I am extremely pleased to announce that the parties have reached the agreements set forth below as a result of a mediation session conducted by myself and my colleague Scot Beckenbaugh, Deputy Director for Mediation Services, on Thursday, December 27, 2012:   “The container royalty payment issue has been agreed upon in principle by the parties, subject to achieving an overall collective bargaining agreement. The parties have further agreed to an additional extension of 30 days (i.e., until midnight,…

USMX Accepts, ILA Rejects Mediator’s Proposal for Contract Extension December 18, 2012 – USMX Evening Press Release NEWARK (DEC. 18, 2012) – At bargaining sessions held today, the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) recommended a short contract extension to keep both parties at the bargaining table. While USMX agreed to the extension, ILA rejected it, refusing to discuss any changes to the status quo on container royalty and renewing its vow to strike. During a meeting Dec.10, the ILA Wage Scale delegates rejected the USMX proposal for a Master Contract and voted to strike when the current extension expires…

December Office Closures Please be advised of the following J.W. Allen & Company office closures in recognition of the Christmas Holiday. Dec 14th – Office Closure @ 3:30 p.m. J.W. Allen & Company Christmas Party Dec 24th & Dec 25th – Office Closed Christmas Holiday January 1st – Office Closed** New Year’s Holiday **A decision regarding the closure of our office on Monday December 31st (New Year’s Eve) will be forthcoming as we gather information on port and related industry closures. Should you require assistance during this time, please Click Here to access Emergency Contact information as available on our…

Birthdays: Please join us in wishing the following J.W. Allen & Co. family members a Happy Birthday: Peggy Bordelon - December 21st Anniversaries: The following person celebrates her Anniversary with J.W. Allen & Co. this month: Beth Raymond - December 18th - 36 years Holidays: Christmas Eve - December 24th Christmas Day - December 25th - Merry Christmas! New Year's Eve - December 31st

Birthdays: Please join us in wishing the following J.W. Allen & Co. family members a Happy Birthday: Heather McGlocklin - November 13th Beth Raymond - November 25th Anniversaries: The following persons celebrate their Anniversary with J.W. Allen & Co. this month: Bill Yennie - November 20th - 6 years Holidays: Veterans Day - November 11th Happy Thanksgiving - November 22nd

The J.W. Allen family is continuing to have their customer’s best interest at heart. In the end, no matter the size or value of your shipment, we strive to have a satisfied customer. Whenever possible we utilize Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) technology, enabling us to electronically communicate and process shipment bookings and/or bills of lading with ocean carriers. As the process is completely computer driven no faxing or mailing of information is required. EDI is essentially a computer to computer exchange of documents between companies with this capability. As technology has proven, we live in a world in which doing…

Birthdays: Please join us in wishing the following J.W. Allen & Co. family members a Happy Birthday: Jerry Becnel - October 12th Michele Ellis - October 14th Anniversaries: The following persons celebrate their Anniversary with J.W. Allen & Co. this month. Sandra Frazier - October 26th - 3 Years Holidays: Happy Halloween - October 31st

Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) Director George H. Cohen announced at the close of today’s negotiations the ILA and USMX have agreed to extend the current collective bargaining agreement for a 90 day time period. The current ILA / USMX agreement originally set to expire on September 30, 2012 will now run through December 29, 2012. In reaching this agreement both sides emphasized their actions were taken “for the good of the country” to avoid any interruption in interstate commerce. The 90 day extension provides both parties the opportunity to effectively communicate and focus on core issues without the…

Birthdays: Please join us in wishing the following J.W. Allen & Co. family members a Happy Birthday: Erin Clancey - September 12th Anniversaries: The following persons celebrate their Anniversary with J.W. Allen & Co. this month. Michele Ellis - September 3rd - 21 years Billy App - September 5th - 49 years WOW - That's a lot of experience!

The likelihood of an October 1ststrike is closer to becoming a reality as the U.S. Maritime Alliance (USMX) and the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) broke off contract talks August 22nd.    Shipper’s fears are mounting as the current USMX / ILA contract expires on September 30th and any outage would greatly impact the flow of trade via East and Gulf Coast ports.  An ILA strike would have a staggering impact on the trade and retail industries as operations at 14 major ports from Maine to Texas would be affected if the ILA’s estimated 15,000 person workforce walked off the job…

At 9:00 am this morning Monday September 3rd, the electricity to our office building was restored with all other basic services (i.e. phone and internet) required to resume normal operations in good order as well. Our office will resume normal business operations tomorrow morning Tuesday September 4th at 8:30 am.  Please note: All e-mail communications forwarded to J.W. Allen personnel during the recent business disruption were received in good order and will be responded to soonest.  Should you have a special inquiry or require immediate assistance, please contact us by phone to ensure expedited service. We sincerely appreciate the overwhelming support received from our staff, families, friends,…

We hope each of you, your families and homes are safe and sound with the passage of Hurricane Isaac.  We understand the personal challenges Hurricane Isaac has presented and hope everyone's lives return to normal as soon as possible.  Many of you have worked remotely throughout the storm monitoring communications and handling shipments as needed to ensure customer's were properly serviced.  Your efforts and actions reflect the true nature and spirit of J.W. Allen & Company.  Thank You All so very much for your personal sacrifices and contributions during this trying time.  Although our office remains without power as of the posting of this…

Our office remaines without electricity due to a downed power line in the area.   Local Entergy Power officials are aware of the outage and working to restore power to the area.    Although our office building is not yet functional, our staff is working remotely and is poised to assist as needed.  If you have a question regarding a shipment or require assistance of any kind, please contact the following persons for assistance as needed. Exports:     Kristi App - (504) 452-2290    /   kristi@jwallen.com                           Jerry Becnel - (504) 812-4774     /   jerry@jwallen.com Imports:      Beth Raymond - (504) 439-0657    /   …

Hurricane Isaac has passed with recovery efforts underway.  Our office is safe, securre and accessible having sustained only minor damage to the exterior of the building; however, our facility is presently without power or phone service hindering our full return. Entergy Power, operating in conjunction with State and Local Governments, is working to restore power in affected areas soonest.     It is unknown when basic services will be restored to our building. Our disaster / contingency planning has readied us for this situation.  Our network servers remain operational with employees working remotely to provide service as needed.  In the event you have any inquiries regarding…

     At 1000 am cdt the center of Tropical Storm Isaac was located near latitude 28.1 north, longitude 88.5 west.   Isaac is moving toward the northwest near 10 mph / 17 km/h.  A northwest motion at a slightly slower speed is expected over the next day or two.  On the forecast track the center of Isaac should reach the coastline of Southeastern Louisiana as early as this evening.   Maximum sustained winds are near 70 mph / 110 km/h with higher gusts possible.  Isaac is expected to become a hurricane before making landfall and begin to slowly weaken thereafter. …

As of the National Weather Service's 10 am advisory this morning the further development of Tropical Storm / Hurricane Isaac and its' forecasted path are favorable for the New Orleans Metro area.  While Isaac appears to be shaping up as a rain event, we are taking the necessary precautions to ensure business continuity. J.W. Allen's Office Closure - Our office will close at 2:00 pm this afternoon, Monday August 27th.  Our office will also be closed Tuesday and Wednesday August 28th and 29th respectively.  It is our intention to resume normal business operations Thursday morning August 30th or soonest after the passage of the storm.…

Tropical Storm Isaac's forecast path shifted slightly west, but remains draped across the New Orleans area in the National Hurricane Center's 4 a.m. forecast. But forecasters now say Isaac is likely to grow only to strong Category 1 strength, with top winds of 90 mph, when its center crosses the mouth of the Mississippi River at about 2 a.m. Wednesday.   The National Hurricane Center Isaac's forecast track has changed little this morning. At 7 a.m., Isaac was 360 miles southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River, with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph. The storm was traveling west…

J.W. Allen & Company Celebrates 80 Years!!! (August 08th) In recognition of the hard work, personal sacrifices and contributions of so many who have played a role in our success, J.W. Allen & Company would like to take this opportunity to say "Thank You All So Very Much"!  To all of the past and present J.W. Allen & Company employees and their families, to our vendors and most importantly to our valued clients we share our gratitude and appreciation in recognition of this milestone. Happy 80th Birthday J.W. Allen!!! Birthdays: Please join us in wishing the following J.W. Allen &…

How does J.W. Allen help employees stay happy, motivated, cool, and full of energy in the heat of a Louisiana summer? In very special ways indeed! As you probably know the first day of summer this year was officially June 20th. Well, although the summer solstice begins in June, Mother Nature’s heat is usually felt much sooner here in New Orleans, often in early May. You may not be aware that like other parts of the country Louisiana officially has four seasons too, but unlike those areas our seasons are called Crawfish, Crab, Shrimp and Oyster. In an effort to…

The rapid expansion of technology in the Global marketplace has cast focus on the real need of small to medium sized companies to consider ways to better protect their intellectual property rights (IPR) in the marketplace; both domestically and abroad. What are intellectual property rights?  IPR’s are typically defined as inventions of the mind and are divided into two recognized categories: Industrial property, such as  inventions (patents), trademarks, industrial designs; and Copyrighted property, such as books and plays, artwork such as films, photographs, paintings, sculptures and drawings, music and architectural designs, drawings and blueprints.  It is important to observe that the…

Anniversaries: Please join in wishing the following J.W. Allen & Company family members a Happy Anniversary: Terry Grisamore - July 11th - 13 Years! Kristi App - July 16th - 11 Years! Gretchen Groom - July 25th - 1 Year! Birthdays: Please join in wishing the following J.W. Allen & Company family members a Happy Birthday: Terry Grisamore - July 23rd Special Dates this Month: Independence Day Holiday - July 4th - Office Closure** **Our office will be closed on Wednesday July 4th re-opening Thursday morning July 5th at 8:30 am** In the truest sense, freedom cannot be bestowed; it must be achieved. Franklin…

Anniversaries: Please join in wishing the following J.W. Allen & Company family members a Happy Anniversary: Erica Gregoire - June 01st - 2 Years! Birthdays: Please join in wishing the following J.W. Allen & Company family members a Happy Birthday: Bill Yennie - June 04th Special Dates this Month: Flag Day - June 14th Father's Day - June 17th 1st Day of Summer - June 21st Giving Thanks and Blessings to Fathers everywhere for their Love and Support The J.W. Allen & Company Family

Anniversaries: Please join in wishing the following J.W. Allen & Company family members a Happy Anniversary: Monica "Taty" Hamburger - May 15th - 4 Years! Karen Johns - May 24th - 36 Years of Fun! Erin Clancey - May 25th - 2 Years! Upcoming Events: International Freight Forwarders and Customs Brokers Association of New Orleans Annual Symposium May 31st - June 3rd ~ Point Clear, Alabama. For more information please visit the IFFCBANO website at: http://www.iffcbano.org/conference.htm

Birthdays: Please join us in wishing the following J.W. Allen & Company family members a Happy Birthday: Cathy Alvarez - April 24th Anniversary: Please join in wishing the following J.W. Allen & Company family members a Happy Anniversary: Jerry Becnel - April 10th - 17 Years of Good Times! Holidays: Our office will be closed on Friday April 06th in observence of the Good Friday holiday! Our office will re-open on Monday morning April 9th at 8:30 am. Have a Blessed and Happy Easter!

Birthdays: Please join us in wishing the following J.W. Allen & Company family members a Happy Birthday: Billy App - March 03rd Sandra Frazier - March 20th Karen Johns - March 24th Anniversaries: Please join us in wishing the following J.W. Allen & Company family members a Happy Anniversary: Heather McGlocklin - March 02nd - 1 Year! Debbie Janusa - March 25th - 10 Years!