News / Worker no-shows force US west coast port terminal shutdowns

Just when it seemed that US west coast labour contract negotiations were advancing toward settlement, dockworker absences on Friday forced several terminals to halt operations and impacted cargo flows at other facilities.

The action affected terminals at Los Angeles and Long Beach, as well as the ports of Oakland, Hueneme and Seattle.

Oakland’s two international terminals shut down, as did the Matson terminal, which handles predominantly domestic freight, because there were not enough workers to handle containers. The port authority said it did not expect operations to resume before this morning.

Amid talks between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), the PMA on Friday accused the union of disruptive actions to increase the pressure in the negotiations, which have dragged on since last summer. The 20,000 ILWU members on the west coast have been working without a contract since 1 July last year.

The ILWU has denied the accusation. Its Local 13, which represents its members at Los Angeles and Long Beach, described the absences as “a move by workers to express their frustration over the lack of progress in the talks”.

It added: “However, cargo operations in the ports continue as longshore workers remain on the job to move the nation’s cargo, as they have done valiantly for decades.”

The union told media that while “PMA member carriers and terminal operators made historic profits of $510bn during the pandemic”, ILWU workers, “who put their lives on the line”, found “the percentage of ILWU wages and benefits continued to drop compared to PMA rising revenues”.

international president Willie Adams added: “We aren’t going to settle for an economic package that doesn’t recognise the heroic efforts and personal sacrifices of the ILWU workforce that lifted the shipping industry to record profits.”

But he stressed that contract talks with the PMA had “not broken down”.

Negotiations have, reportedly, made some headway in the past couple of months. In April, the ILWU signalled that “a tentative agreement” had been reached on “certain key issues”. In May, Gene Seroka, executive director of the port of Los Angeles, said: “I believe we’re on the doorstep of a tentative agreement. Both sides are spending a lot of time at the negotiating table, and I’m optimistic we’ll hear good news soon.”

And Stephen Lyons, the White House supply chain envoy, commented after a visit to Los Angeles last month that he was getting “positive reflections” from both sides and “we should see tentative agreements soon”.

The mood was improving. Cargo owners had shifted cargo away from the west coast to other gateways to avoid disruption in the event of work stoppages, but many have begun to switch routings back, with LA and Oakland reported rising volumes in the past months.

But Friday’s action is giving cargo owners food for thought and may slow some shifts to the west coast.

However, Mario Cordero, executive director of the port of Long Beach, urged the ILWU and the PMA “to continue negotiating in good faith toward a fair agreement”, and the Retail Industry Leaders Association echoed this appeal , and wants the federal government to intervene if there is no progress.

Supply chain VP Jessica Dankert said: “If this work stoppage drags on and contract negotiations continue to falter, the Biden-Harris administration must step in and broker a deal.”