22,000 West Coast Dock Workers are set to strike June 1st
Apr 13, 2022 20:29:26 GMT -5
Post by ExquisiteGerbil on Apr 13, 2022 20:29:26 GMT -5
This could pretty well send us over the cliff...
New Supply Chain Risk: 22,000 Dockworkers Who May Soon Strike
Peter S. Goodman
With the contract of union workers at West Coast ports nearing expiration, the prospect of a labor impasse threatens another shock to the global economy.
Peter S. Goodman
Peter S. Goodman, who has been covering the supply chain upheaval since 2020, reported this article from Long Beach, Calif.
In a world contending with no end of economic troubles, a fresh source of concern now looms: the prospect of a confrontation between union dockworkers and their employers at some of the most critical ports on earth.
The potential conflict centers on negotiations over a new contract for more than 22,000 union workers employed at 29 ports along the West Coast of the United States. Nearly three-fourths work at the twin ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, the primary gateway for goods shipped to the United States from Asia, and a locus of problems afflicting the global supply chain.
The contract for the International Longshore and Warehouse Union expires at the end of June. For those whose livelihoods are tied to ports — truckers, logistics companies, retailers — July 1 marks the beginning of a period of grave uncertainty.
A labor impasse could worsen the floating traffic jams that have kept dozens of ships waiting in the Pacific before they can pull up to the docks. That could aggravate shortages and send already high prices for consumer goods soaring.
Some port workers accuse the longshoremen of adding to the chaos at the ports in the lead-up to their contract negotiations, boosting their leverage with the terminal operators while stymieing the flow of cargo for everyone else.
“Every time there’s a contract up, things slow down,” said Anthony Chilton, 55, who drives a truck hauling containers between the ports and warehouses of Southern California. “We always blame the longshoremen. They slack off, take breaks, call in sick.”
Anthony Chilton drives a truck hauling containers between the ports and warehouses in the Los Angeles area.
Among those who work on the docks, such depictions fuel grievous resentment. The longshoremen say they have no intention of slowing or halting work that is at once economically vital, physically exhausting and dangerous — work that they have pursued uninterrupted through the worst pandemic in a century.
“When everybody else was shutting down, we didn’t stop,” said Jesse Lopez, the secretary and treasurer of I.L.W.U. Local 13. “We knew that the American people needed their products.”
Continued at link
New Supply Chain Risk: 22,000 Dockworkers Who May Soon Strike
Peter S. Goodman
With the contract of union workers at West Coast ports nearing expiration, the prospect of a labor impasse threatens another shock to the global economy.
Peter S. Goodman
Peter S. Goodman, who has been covering the supply chain upheaval since 2020, reported this article from Long Beach, Calif.
In a world contending with no end of economic troubles, a fresh source of concern now looms: the prospect of a confrontation between union dockworkers and their employers at some of the most critical ports on earth.
The potential conflict centers on negotiations over a new contract for more than 22,000 union workers employed at 29 ports along the West Coast of the United States. Nearly three-fourths work at the twin ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, the primary gateway for goods shipped to the United States from Asia, and a locus of problems afflicting the global supply chain.
The contract for the International Longshore and Warehouse Union expires at the end of June. For those whose livelihoods are tied to ports — truckers, logistics companies, retailers — July 1 marks the beginning of a period of grave uncertainty.
A labor impasse could worsen the floating traffic jams that have kept dozens of ships waiting in the Pacific before they can pull up to the docks. That could aggravate shortages and send already high prices for consumer goods soaring.
Some port workers accuse the longshoremen of adding to the chaos at the ports in the lead-up to their contract negotiations, boosting their leverage with the terminal operators while stymieing the flow of cargo for everyone else.
“Every time there’s a contract up, things slow down,” said Anthony Chilton, 55, who drives a truck hauling containers between the ports and warehouses of Southern California. “We always blame the longshoremen. They slack off, take breaks, call in sick.”
Anthony Chilton drives a truck hauling containers between the ports and warehouses in the Los Angeles area.
Among those who work on the docks, such depictions fuel grievous resentment. The longshoremen say they have no intention of slowing or halting work that is at once economically vital, physically exhausting and dangerous — work that they have pursued uninterrupted through the worst pandemic in a century.
“When everybody else was shutting down, we didn’t stop,” said Jesse Lopez, the secretary and treasurer of I.L.W.U. Local 13. “We knew that the American people needed their products.”
Continued at link