The PMA said it will limit the number of longshoremen hired to unload ships.
The Pacific Maritime Association says its members are going to reduce the number of longshoremen unloading ships during night shifts in the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and concentrate on hiring workers to clearing containers from clogged terminals.
PMA spokesman Wade Gates said, “The twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have been struggling for some time with overall congestion issues related to a range of factors. Within this already difficult environment, the ILWU has made matters worse for weeks by refusing to dispatch qualified crane operators. These critical workers normally deliver and receive container loads from truckers, and by withholding them, the union has negatively impacted cargo-handling operations throughout Southern California.”
He continued, “To focus efforts on clearing containers from terminal yards and get them moving to their final destinations, PMA will be reducing the number of workers ordered to unload ships on night shifts, thereby avoiding the prospect of creating gridlock that the additional unloading of ships would create. Labor orders for the day shifts and night shift yard and gate will remain unchanged.”
Jennifer Sargent, a spokesman for the ILWU, said, “PMA’s action to reduce the number of night gangs that would otherwise be filled by trained equipment operators is counterproductive and will only exacerbate the backlog of ships waiting berths in Los Angeles and Long Beach.
“The shortage of yard crane operators is a consequence of PMA’s refusal — before the commencement of negotiations — to adequately train,” she continued. “The PMA regularly rejected the union’s overtures for such training and also refused to register new workers to perform critical UTR [utility tract rigs, the trucks used to move containers within container yards] and basic work. PMA’s pre-negotiation position has caught up with them logistically and now serves to partially contribute to the institutional congestion problems being experienced in Los Angeles and Long Beach.”
Saregent went on to say that putting blame with the union “is blatantly inaccurate and is being done only to divert responsibility from wrong choices and a vacuum of planning” on behalf of the employers.
“PMA’s use of the term ‘qualified’ in its statement means someone that has received no formal training on sophisticated equipment and often means just putting a warm body in the seat,” she said. She added that this practice “is extremely dangerous to the potential operator and to everyone in the facility. Misdirecting a 50-ton box can seriously injure or kill a truck driver — many of whom are not even longshoremen — quickly.”
The Marine Exchange of Southern California said that as of 7 a.m. on Friday there were seven containerships at anchorage outside the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
The PMA and ILWU have been meeting to negotiate a new contract for more than seven months. Their last contract expired on July 1, 2014.
On Dec. 22, the PMA called for a federal mediator to get involved in the contract talks. It renewed that call earlier this week, saying that “given the lack of progress at the table, the ILWU’s continuation of debilitating work slowdowns and the impact those actions are having on businesses throughout America, it’s clear that mediation is required to resolve the many issues that remain at the bargaining table.”
A union spokesman said Monday, “We are in the process of considering whether or not mediation would be productive, or if other measures … might serve the industry better. The ILWU is always open to using productive tools and ideas in obtaining a fair agreement.”
