Calif. congresswoman seeks FMC investigation of actions during bargaining with ILWU.
Rep. Janice Hahn, D-Calif., on Wednesday called on the Federal Maritime Commission to investigate the Pacific Maritime Association’s decisions during its recent contract negotiations with dockworkers. Specifically, PMA suspended night, weekend and holiday shifts in the weeks before a tentative deal was reached.
The multi-employer bargaining unit on the West Coast said it eliminated the off-peak shifts for vessel loading and unloading to concentrate on clearing clogged container yards, and to avoid paying premium wages. PMA contended productivity was low due to a work slowdown orchestrated by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union in an attempt to gain leverage in the talks.
“I would like the Federal Maritime Commission to look into some of the unilateral actions by PMA in terms of not allowing workers to work evenings and weekends,” Hahn told FMC Chairman Mario Cordero during a House Transportation and Infrastructure subcommittee hearing on the budget for the Coast Guard and maritime programs. “I would like to see a full investigation so in five years during the next contract negotiations we don’t have that kind of lockdown at our West Coast ports.”
Hahn, who represents the 44th district in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, repeatedly sided with the ILWU during the nearly 10-month labor talks. She blamed the PMA for locking out longshoremen and creating the congestion that caused cargo owners to wait four to five weeks to retrieve their shipments.
“PMA’s actions were inexcusable, and I worry that the damage they did will be irreversible,” the congresswoman said in a statement issued by her office. “I think it is possible that the business our West Coast ports lost might never come back.”
Her fear that shippers may permanently shift discretionary cargo to other gateways to avoid getting burned again by port dysfunction may be well founded, based on anecdotal reactions from businesses involved in international trade. Whether companies follow through on the frustrations being expressed remains to be seen, but many have used alternative modes and routes to bypass congestion in Southern California since last year.
A logistics manager said during a call into the “Road Dog Trucking Channel’s” news program on SiriusXM Radio that his Michigan-based company stopped moving cargo through the West Coast last June as congestion worsened prior to the labor negotiations.
“I have no intentions of reverting back to the West Coast with my cargo because of the disruptions and productivity being so slow. I just find it too unpredictable at this point. And I don’t think we’ll move back there at least for another year to let this all shake out and see where it turns,” he said.
The caller said ports in the Southeast and Northeast have been much more customer friendly and efficient in moving the company’s freight.
“I just don’t feel the West Coast has their act together right now. Too many disruptions and the cost of operations is much higher,” he complained, without mentioning any specific ports.
Any diversion of cargo to East Coast gateways is good for the trucking industry “because the hauls off of the East Coast are shorter and more truck friendly as compared to the long hauls off of the West Coast where a higher percentage tend to move via rail,” Larry Gross, the show’s guest and a senior consultant with FTR Associates, said.
He predicted that spot rates, which were weak before the settlement because there was limited freight to move cross country, will shoot up as cargo volumes pick up.
“Folks are going to be looking for capacity in any way, shape or form…because these shipments have been so delayed folks are going to be willing to pay for expedited movement in order to get their store shelves from running out or their factories from stopping because of lack of critical components,” he said.
During her question time, Hahn also criticized terminal operators for charging demurrage – a penalty charged to shippers and often incurred by motor carriers for not picking up cargo within a window of several days – at a time when port operations were so jammed that truckers couldn’t get in the gate or were turned away. Shippers across the country have vehemently complained about the feeling of double jeopardy because they can’t pick up their cargo when they want and are then fined for being late.
“I really feel something fishy was going on at our ports with PMA not allowing the workers to load and unload cargo, meanwhile charging folks for the storage of the containers on the docks which weren’t able to be loaded and loaded,” she said.
Cordero reminded her that the demurrage problem is not isolated to West Coast ports such as Los Angeles and Long Beach.
He gave few concrete answers when asked what the FMC is doing to address the port inefficiencies that have caused long-term congestion, saying that the FMC is still studying the issues.
The FMC has an oversight role in ports to ensure fair and reliable transportation.
Rep. Hahn questions PMA’s tactics during House hearing
