California ports close due to lack of dockworkers
The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and shippers are engaged in a protracted dispute over compensation and the deployment of automation, which has led to the stoppage
Container cranes stand idle at the Port of Los Angeles. AFP File
Los Angeles, United States: Due to a lack of dockworkers showing up for work on Friday, two of the busiest ports in the United States had to close, according to a shippers’ representative.
The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and shippers are engaged in a protracted dispute over compensation and the deployment of automation, which has led to the stoppage.
“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,” said a statement from the Pacific Maritime Association, the umbrella group that represents shippers.
“The workers who did show up were released because there was not a full complement of ILWU members to operate the terminals.
“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.”
The ILWU insisted the only no-shows were those marking the Christian festival of Good Friday.
“Cargo operations are ongoing as longshore workers at the Ports remain on the job,” a union statement said.
Every year, the two ports — known as the San Pedro Bay Port Complex — move almost 20 million shipping containers of cargo valued at more than $300 billion.
According to port data, the complex is the ninth-largest port in the world by market share and is essential to the continuity of global supply chains.
When nations opened up, the issue remained. During the COVID-19 outbreak, ports all across the world clogged up as exporters battled to fulfil the demand for stay-at-home items.
According to economists, the slow-to-shift backlog is one of the causes of inflation that has engulfed most of the world in the past 18 months as a result of customers’ demands for goods that aren’t being fulfilled quickly enough.
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