WEST COAST, USA - After weeks of tension over the issue of the contract talks between the West Coast dock workers' International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), news is breaking that a tentative agreement has been reached on the issue of health care coverage, one of the central issues tying up talks and keeping executives up at night with fears of a strike.

At the heart of the issue was a conflict between the dock workers who didn't want to have their health care benefits cut and the PMA's worries that the generous nature of the health benefits have led to tens of millions of dollars in fraudulent claims.

According to the Times Colonist, the PMA wanted to eliminate the potential for these fraud cases as a way to reduce its tax burden under the Affordable Care Act, which would have cost the Association roughly $32 million in new taxes each year starting in 2018. Combined with the $461 million which it cost employers to cover the 13,800 dock workers and their families in 2013 and you have a sizable burden for employers, the PMA argued.

The dockworkers countered that this emphasis on stamping out fraud, the scope of which was largely exaggerated by the PMA, prevented the payment of legitimate health care claims, leaving ailing workers out in the cold when they needed health care unless they had the tens of thousands of dollars to fund their care out of pocket.

According to the Times Colonist, while specific details of the agreement have not yet been released to the public, any deal between the two parties would have to satisfy the cost concerns of employers while assuring the ILWU that worker's benefits would remain intact.

The settlement of the health care issue removes one of the largest roadblocks in the way to a deal, but several important matters remain to be settled before this issue can come to a close. Matters of pay, job security, and workplace safety still have to be hammered out.

Regardless, it is certainly excellent news to see progress be made. Hopefully it is the sign of more good news to come.

Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow for future updates on the West Coast Port labor talks.