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Labor issues continue to dominate port news, especially on the West Coast, where the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association failed to reach a new contract agreement by the July 1 deadline.
Although both the ILWU and PMA said cargo handling would not be interrupted while negotiations continue, many retailers have already hedged their bets, diverting some cargo to East Coast ports and bringing holiday merchandise into the country at record levels to protect against potential supply chain disruptions.
Import volumes at major U.S. container ports are expected to total 1.5 million containers this month. That’s the highest monthly volume in at least five years and follows a trend of unusually high import levels that began this spring as retailers worked to import merchandise ahead of any potential problems, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released Wednesday by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.
“We’re still hoping to get through this without any significant disruptions, but retailers aren’t taking any chances,” NRF vice president Jonathan Gold said. “Retailers have been bringing merchandise in early for months now and will do what it takes to make sure shelves are stocked for their customers regardless of what happens during the negotiations.”
Global Port Tracker numbers indicate some importers have begun shifting cargo to East Coast ports, Gold said. West Coast ports handled 59 percent of U.S. retail container cargo in May, down from 62 percent in January.
East Coast not immune
While dockworkers and management along the East and Gulf coasts agreed to a six-year master contract early last year, pockets of concern still exist. Local contracts remain unresolved in the ports of Charleston, Baltimore and Mobile.
Late last month, members of ILA 1422 in Charleston voted to authorize a strike in an apparent effort to pressure employers on issues such as pensions, work rules and representation of dock workers employed by private stevedores.
So far, the union has made no attempt to stop work at the port.
According to the Journal of Commerce, it’s not unusual for a union to authorize a strike without carrying through with a work stoppage. But, the journal says, the situation is being watched closely by port users in Charleston, which handled more than 1 million TEUs last year.
The ILA’s local contracts supplement the coast-wide master contract, which contains a no-strike clause. When ILA clerks and checkers in Charleston staged a walk-out last August, a court order ended the work stoppage.
In Baltimore, where the ILA local struck for three days last fall, an arbitrator ruled the walk-out a violation of the master contract and awarded employers nearly $4 million in damages.
Truckers have own issues
On both coasts, independent truckers are clamoring to bring their own issues to the forefront.
In California, owner-operators who haul cargo for tree major trucking companies went on strike Monday, briefly shutting down four terminals at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach when dockworkers chose to honor their picket lines. The dockworkers were quickly ordered back on the job.
In Savannah, independent truckers — who had rallied outside the gates of Georgia Ports Authority’s Garden City Terminal in April — were back this week in a show of solidarity for their fellow drivers on the West Coast.
In both cases, the issues center on classification: The drivers contend they are treated as if they were employees but classified as contract workers, making them ineligible for such benefits as health insurance and denying them protections that employees get under state and federal laws.
However, Ed Crowell, president and CEO of the Georgia Motor Trucking Association, says the majority of independent contractors and owner-operators in the state are happy with their status.
“This is strictly a union-inspired event,” he said in April. “It’s part and parcel of a nationwide effort by the Teamsters to unionize short-haul port drivers across the country.”
Senior business reporter Mary Carr Mayle covers the ports for the Savannah Morning News and savannahnow. She can be reached at 912-652-0324 or at mary.mayle@savannahnow.com.
Shipping Schedule
Following are the ships expected to call on Georgia Ports Authority’s Garden City and Ocean terminals this week. Schedules are supplied by GPA and are subject to change.
TERMINAL VESSEL ETA
GCT MAERSK IDAHO Today
GCT MAERSK MONTANA Today
GCT PRAIA Today
GCT CMA CGM MATISSE Today
GCT IBRAHIM DEDE Today
GCT XIN TAI CANG Today
GCT ZIM TEXAS Today
OT FIDELIO Today
OT BAHRI ABHA Today
GCT MSC LUISA Saturday
GCT EVER SUMMIT Saturday
GCT HALIFAX EXPRESS Saturday
GCT SAFMARINE BANDAMA Saturday
GCTT CHEMBULK GIBRALTAR Saturday
GCT ST LOUIS EXPRESS Saturday
GCT OOCL KOBE Sunday
GCT SAN DU AO Sunday
GCT SEATTLE EXPRESS Sunday
GCT PRETORIA Sunday
GCT MSC INGRID Sunday
GCT AKINADA BRIDGE Sunday
GCT CMA CGM LA SCALA Monday
GCT MAERSK DETROIT Monday
GCT APL PEARL Monday
GCT MSC SILVANA Monday
GCT VENICE BRIDGE Monday
GCT RIO THOMPSON Monday
GCT FRISIA ROTTERDAM Monday
GCT NYK DENEB Monday
GCT EVER CHARMING Monday
GCT HYUNDAI GLORY Monday
GCT CAPE MELVILLE Tuesday
GCT APL TURQUOISE Tuesday
GCT MSC MARINA Tuesday
GCT MAERSK DENVER Tuesday
GCT NYK DAEDALUS Tuesday
GCT AL FARAHIDI Tuesday
GCT ZIM TARRAGONA Wednesday
GCT NORTHERN GENERAL Wednesday
GCT CONRAD S Wednesday
GCT HANJIN MONTEVIDEO Wednesday
OT OBERON Wednesday
OT ENDURANCE Wednesday
OT STAR KINN Wednesday
GCT MOL MAXIM Thursday
GCT VARAMO Thursday
GCT JPO CAPRICORNUS Thursday
GCT MSC NAVEGANTES Thursday
GCT MSC BUSAN Thursday
GCT ZIM BEIJING Thursday