Last night and this morning, workers at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach didn’t show up, effectively shutting down the former busiest ports in the nation. Though the ILWU hasn’t responded to requests for comment, the Pacific Maritime Association, representing the terminal and ocean carriers in labor negotiations, has spoken to Bloomberg, detailing the events and calling for workers to return.
According to a partial statement from the Pacific Maritime Association:
“The largest ILWU local on the West Coast has taken a concerted action to withhold labor at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, resulting in widespread worker shortages. A majority of the jobs for last night’s shift went unfilled, including all jobs for cargo-handling equipment operators needed to load and unload cargo. The workers who did show up were released because there was not a full complement of ILWU members to operate the terminals.
ILWU Local 13 withheld labor again for this morning’s shift. The action by the Union has effectively shut down the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach – the largest gateway for maritime trade in the United States.”
While this stoppage could critically delay cargo, we hope that parties will come together to reach an agreement before too much more time passes. Choking off a major cargo artery will not help the west coast ports regain the market share they lost when shipments were diverted due to port congestion. Is
We at Coppersmith understand how critical this news is to shippers and retailers who depend on the US West Coast in their supply chains. We will update this space as more information becomes available to keep our customers informed. If you have questions and concerns about your west coast ocean freight, contact your Coppersmith representative to learn more about the situation.
