Work Stoppage Closes Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles
Crane operators and operators of cargo-handling equipment failed to show up for work starting with Thursday, April 6, evening shift effectively bringing the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to a standstill. Neither the Pacific Maritime Association, which represents the employers of dockworkers, nor the ILWU Local 13 is calling it a strike, but the stoppage has continued into Friday.
Maersk issued a customer advisory reporting that two or three of its ships might be immediately impacted at the Port of Los Angeles. They wrote, “no operations were performed on the night shift. Every terminal in the harbor canceled all vessel, yard, rail, and gate operations for the night shift with the uncertainty of not knowing if they would be able to resume for Friday's 1st shift.”
A PMA spokesperson told Bloomberg that the ILWU Local 13 again withheld labor for the Friday morning shift. Some workers had come to the terminal for their assigned shifts last night but because there were an insufficient number of personnel the terminals were forced to send them away and suspend work.
In the customer advisory, Maersk noted that Thursday “marked the last day of the ILWU Local 13 President’s term. The new President was sworn in and has begun his term.” It is unclear if the action has anything to do with the change of leadership at the union’s local or the Good Friday religious holiday. Today was scheduled to be a normal work day for the ports, although Sunday, April 9, Easter Sunday, is scheduled as a no work day due to the religious holiday.
The port of Los Angeles’ Control Tower Signal Report reflects that 10 vessels are on dock. They show three containerships scheduled to arrive today at the port, two more on April 9, and a sixth vessel on April 11.
The PMA and the union have been in contract talks since the prior contract expired on July 1, 2022, with both sides remaining mostly quiet on the status of the talks. Their last communication was in February 2023 saying that they were hopeful and that both sides remained committed to resolving the contract. Port officials have repeatedly said that the uncertainty and the potential for disruptions are hurting the operations at both ports with carriers and shippers actively diverting to U.S. Gulf Coast and East Coast ports as alternatives. They have called for the two sides to resolve the issues quickly for the health of the ports.
Last month, The Wall Street Journal reported that union members in the ports had quietly begun refusing to stagger the timing of their meal breaks. Each shift receives a break period but under the contract provisions, they are to be staggered so that enough personnel remain at work to continue operations. Work was reportedly being forced to stop causing backlogs as dockworkers had stopped spreading out their breaks. The PMA acknowledged the issue and said to reporters that it was unable to arbitrate because they are currently without a contract.
Maersk told customers that it was seeking “more clarity on the disruption and duration." The PMA issued a brief statement confirming the stoppage and the issue of staggering shifts during meal periods. They wrote, "These actions undermine confidence in West Coast ports, and threaten to further accelerate the diversion of discretionary cargo." There was no indication of if the workers might remain off the job or what actions are currently being taken to resolve the stoppage.