West Coast ports to reopen after weekend shutdown

USA Today – by Chris Woodyard

LOS ANGELES — West Coast ports were expected to reopen to shipping Monday after a weekend shutdown that heightened labor tensions and hinted at the ongoing dispute’s potential to sap billions of dollars from the U.S. economy.

At the normally busy Port of Los Angeles, cranes sat idly perched over ships stacked high with containers during the weekend while other loaded vessels bobbed at anchor offshore. The terminal operators’ decision to shut down ship movements at 29 West Coast ports affected not only goods such as cars, clothing, building materials and electronics from Asia, but also American agricultural exports.  

Even before the weekend, the Pacific Maritime Association, representing port terminal operators, said that a 14-week dockworker slowdown had choked cargo and ship movements. Though ship movements were at a standstill, the association said Sunday that yards in the five busiest ports — Seattle, Tacoma, Oakland, Los Angeles and Long Beach — were busy moving cargo off the docks.

A full-blown port shutdown could cost the U.S. economy some $2 billion a day, the National Retail Federation has warned. Unlike some past labor disputes involving the ports, the latest escalation at least comes at a time when the holiday season has passed and many retailers aren’t as in dire need of shipments of merchandise.

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union, which represents dockworkers, says the move to shut the ports only made matters worse. The temporary closure came amid negotiations for a new contact.

“Employers are deliberately worsening the existing congestion crisis to gain the upper hand at the bargaining table,” said union president Robert McEllrath in a statement. He disputed operators’ assertions that the docks are clogged with cargo, saying photos prove “there are acres of asphalt just waiting for the containers on those ships.”

But the terminal operators’ association said it was no longer willing to pay top dollar to union members working at a snail’s pace.

“After three months of union slowdowns, it makes no sense to pay extra for less work,” said association spokesman Wade Gates in a statement. The reduced pace has “needlessly brought West Coast ports to the brink of gridlock.”

Unionized dockworkers are among the nation’s best-paid blue-collar workers. The union has successively negotiated pay increases for its members over the years that compensate for vastly increased productivity, made possible through containerization of freight, that has dramatically reduced the number of workers needed to load and unload ships. As a result, the association said the average longshoreman union member earns $147,000 a year.

Last Wednesday, the association said it was making an “all-in” five-year contract offer that would boost wages by 3% a year, offer full health care benefits and a maximum $88,800 annual retirement benefit.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2015/02/08/west-coast-ports-closure/23086097/