As Dockworkers Near Contract’s End, Many Others Have a Stake

Los Angeles — David Alvarado struck a barrel south along the freeway, staring through a semi-truck windshield towards a towering crane along the coastline.

He did the same 30-minute trek to the Port of Los Angeles twice that day. Hopefully he will succeed two more times. Alvarado learned what it takes to live a comfortable life for his wife and three children, averaging four pickups and deliveries a day.

“This was my life. It helped support my family,” said 17 years of cargo between a warehouse in Southern California and two ports in Los Angeles and Long Beach, a global hub that handles 40%. Alvarado, who brought it, said. Of national maritime imports.

Early in the pandemic, he was idling for six hours a day, overcoming a salary blow while waiting for cargo to be loaded from a ship into a truck. Now the harbor is busy again, but there are new sources of anxiety. It is about to expire the union contract for port workers along the west coast.

“It will overwhelm me financially,” he said, if negotiations could not avoid slowdowns, strikes, or lockouts.

The results are important not only for port workers and port operators, but also for the ecosystem of workers around the port, such as Mr. Alvarado, and for the global supply chain to recover from the coronavirus blockade and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. .. Inflation has soared to its highest speed in more than 40 years, in part due to supply chain complications.

The contract between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, which represents 22,000 workers at 29 ports from San Diego to Seattle, and the Pacific Maritime Association, which represents the transportation terminal, will expire on Friday. Union members mainly operate machines such as cranes and forklifts that move cargo containers in and out of ships.

In a statement this month, both representatives said they did not expect an agreement by the deadline, but are dedicated to working towards an agreement.

The focus of the negotiations is to expand automation such as speeding up production, which is a priority of shipping companies, such as raising wages of union members whose average salary is in the low 6 digits and moving cargo containers using robots.

In a recent video statement on the negotiations, Jim McKenna, CEO of the Pacific Maritime Association, said, “Automation enables densification of existing port terminals, increasing cargo throughput and long-term. Cargo growth will continue. “

In an open letter posted on Facebook last month, union president Willy Adams attacked the transition to automation, which led to unemployment and prioritized foreign interests over “what’s best for America”. ..

“Automation poses a great national security risk because, as other automated ports have experienced, we are exposed to the risk of our ports being hacked,” Adams wrote.

Record-level cargo arrived here as negotiations began in early May.

In May, the Port of Los Angeles became the third busiest month to date, processing nearly one million shipping container units, mainly stocking imports from Asia. Twenty-one vessels were waiting to moor outside their local port this week, according to the Southern California Marine Exchange. It decreased from 109 vessels in January.

On a recent trip here, President Biden, who approved a plan to keep the Port of Los Angeles open 24 hours a day last year, met with negotiators and urged a swift agreement. Both leaders say Biden worked behind the scenes in hopes of avoiding delays.

The US economy lost an estimated $ 11 billion when the collapse of negotiations resulted in an 11-day lockout in 2002. President George W. Bush eventually intervened and the lockout was lifted. When negotiations lasted for nine months in 2015, the Obama administration intervened after standoffs led to slowing and congestion of work at ports on the west coast.

Geraldine Knatz, a professor of policy and engineering practice at the University of Southern California, said Biden’s early intervention could help stop the serious untreated portion.

“Previously, the federal government was storming when negotiations stalled,” said Knatz, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles from 2006 to 2014. And the Biden administration as a result of the supply chain crisis did not exist before. “

Still, emergency response plans are in place, said Jonathan Gold, Vice President of Supply Chain and Customs Policy at the National Retail Federation. He said some retailers started pushing up their calendars a few months ago, ordering supplies long before they were needed, and preferably using ports along the East Coast and Gulf.

Gene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, said in an interview that he does not expect any delays due to the impending contract expiration date. He said he knew that everyone involved was already in a very busy time. region.

Retail imports make up 75% of all cargo entering the port, and as the new semester and holiday shopping season approach, Mr. Seroca did not expect cargo volumes to drop to more typical levels until next year. Stated.

“Everyone is working hard,” says Seloka.

But for some retailers, the current problem brings back painful memories.

In early 2015, due to a delay during contract negotiations, Charlie Wu fired more than 600 seasonal workers from his company, Megatoy.

“It was hard at the time,” Wu said recently from a 330,000-square-foot warehouse in Commerce, California, an industrial city in Los Angeles County, not far from the harbor.

Mr. Wu started mega toys in 1989 and now imports about 1,000 freight containers from China every year. The 40-foot container is packed with small toys such as plastic Easter eggs and miniature rubber soccer balls and basketball, and employees package them in baskets sold at grocery stores and large stores such as Walmart and Target. To

During the pandemic turmoil last fall, some of his cargo stagnated for almost three months. The delay ultimately led to a 5% drop in his company’s sales, Mr. Wu said, bringing in tens of millions of dollars a year.

He has been struggling for another year.

“I anticipate the problem. I don’t know how big the problem will be,” said Wu, who owns a manufacturing plant near Shenzhen, China, with more US terminals and more. He said he hopes to move to automation.

“We have to find innovative solutions to catch up with Asian ports,” Wu said.

This afternoon, truck driver Alvarado recalled the early days of his career.

During my childhood summer vacation, I rode a shotgun with my father, who had been driving a semi-truck in the harbor for nearly 40 years, and listened to a Dodgers baseball game with him.

“This is all I’ve ever wanted,” said 38-year-old Alvarado. Over the years, he has seen many childhood friends leave because they couldn’t afford to live here.

It wasn’t always easy for him either. Last fall, more than 80 freight carriers anchored offshore here. This was partly due to a pandemic prior to the holiday season and a surge in imports, which could result in hours of waiting for the final load. He is one of the approximately 21,000 truck drivers allowed to receive cargo at the port.

Time is money for an independent contractor. Alvarado works 16 hours a weekday and aims to load and unload four packages daily. When he does it consistently, he said he can earn up to $ 4,000 a week before the cost.

During the worst pandemic delay, he was fortunate enough to receive his luggage twice a day, which has improved in recent months but is now plagued by fuel prices. increase.

“Inflation was fierce,” he said.

According to Alvarado, the cost of filling 220 gallons in a week is usually $ 1,200, double that of a few months ago.

“It all starts to add up,” he said. “I wonder if I should think about anything else.”

Alvarado said he would remain optimistic about the outlook for labor-management talks. Trade union workers reminded him of his own family, he said. Men and women from blue-collar upbringing, many of whom are of Latin descent with a deep family relationship with the harbor. For many of them, interruptions in work will be painful.

“It will hurt all Americans,” he said.

After passing the harbor, Alvarado turned the truck into a warehouse parking lot. There, colorful containers lined up on the asphalt like rows of neatly arranged Lego blocks.

It was his third load of the day, and in this round he didn’t have to wait for the cargo handling worker to load the carrier onto the truck. Instead, he backed up the cicadas to the chassis and the blue container snapped into place.

He launched Google Maps on his iPhone and looked up the distance to the drop-off in Fontana, California. 67 mph.

In the end, Alvarado said it could end up with four load days.