Productivity is down as much as 50% at West Coast ports because of work slowdowns by members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union.
Eight vessels have already been diverted from the Port of Oakland, which was hardest hit by the ILWU job actions. Long truck lines are getting even longer at Los Angeles-Long Beach, the nation’s busiest port complex.
Slowdowns have also hit the Pacific Northwest ports of Seattle, Tacoma and Portland, Ore.
“It’s really slo-mo out there,” said Hal Hilliard, marketing manager at the Port of Long Beach, as he surveyed terminal operations this morning.
The work slowdowns continue as contract negotiations drag on between the ILWU and the Pacific Maritime Association, which represents shipping lines and terminal operators. Negotiations went late into the night Monday and are scheduled to resume this morning in San Francisco.
West Coast longshoremen have been working without a contract since July 1, when the three-year contract that was negotiated in 1996 expired. The work slowdowns began shortly after the contract expired.
The ILWU headquarters in San Francisco said the job actions are not being orchestrated by the international, but rather are being pursued by ILWU locals at the various ports.
The job actions are wreaking havoc on West Coast ports as cargo floods in from Asia during the busiest time of the year.
According to the PMA, productivity has dropped 30% to 50%. This figure was confirmed by the Port of Long Beach, which reported that cranes are averaging 12 to 15 container moves per hour. The normal productivity rate is 28 to 30 moves per hour.
Also, ILWU clerks in Southern California informed employers last week they would not work extended hours and will stop working during meal hours. This has aggravated the congestion problems.
As cargo operations slow to a crawl, trucks are backing up throughout the Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex. Frustrated owner-operator truck drivers are getting only one or at most two round-trips per day because they spend so much time waiting in line. The drivers need four or more turns a day in order to make a profit.
The situation was equally disastrous in Oakland. Longshoremen there shut the port down for two days last week over a local bargaining issue. When the port re-opened at the weekend, more than a dozen vessels were waiting for labor.
The backlog and shortage of labor has been so great that at least eight vessels have been diverted to other West Coast ports since the weekend, said Dan Westerlin, manager of strategic marketing at the port.
July is one of the busiest months of the year as Christmas cargo begins to move through West Coast ports. Shipping executives say advance bookings indicate August will be an even bigger month.
This has terminal operators especially worried because they are already straining to handle the cargo flow under the adverse conditions caused by the labor slowdowns.
Furthermore, some terminals are reporting a shortage of locomotives and double-stack rail cars. If the intermodal rail problems persist, this could lead to a condition similar to the 1997 peak season, terminal operators warn.
Two years ago, rail problems on the Union Pacific had a cascading effect on the entire intermodal transportation chain, resulting in vessels delays at West Coast ports, gridlock at intermodal rail transfer yeards and a shortage of longshore labor.
