NORTH AMERICA

Labour dispute drags on

12 years ago

Labour discussions are still underway to try to resolve the US west coast ports crisis with the Whitehouse arbitrator ushered in to help end the labour disputes this week.

Volume down: Oakland’s cargo volumes were hit hard in January

President Obama sent Labor Secretary, Tom Perez, to police contract negotiations between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and employers represented by the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) this week.

The situation at US ports continues to worsen. Around 11 vessels are reportedly still waiting to berth at the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles.

Oakland said last week there were 18 ships waiting to berth and that as a result of the slowdowns, cargo volume declined dramatically in January. Its containerised imports were down 39% and exports declined 26% in January 2014, with total volume off by 32%.

The Port of Long Beach said that the troubles drove down its container cargo by 18.8% in January compared to the same month last year, imports were down by 23.5% and exports slid by 19.6%.

And operators are having their troubles too. International Container Terminal Services Inc (ICTSI), which runs Terminal 6 at the Port of Portland, Oregon, said in a statement that although the situation at Terminal 6 has been going on much longer than the current labour dispute at other west coast ports, it will work cooperatively with the ILWU to help end the stoppages, which are clearly adding to its own troubles.

Hanjin recently departed the terminal and the operator said it will be taking calculated steps, in conjunction with the Port of Portland, toward seeking new carriers.

Talks between the Labor Secretary and all parties in the labour dispute are ongoing.