Posts Tagged “labor strike”
Although the eight-day strike at ports in Los Angeles and Long Beach has ended, picking up and delivering loads to the terminals is still a mess and it could be for weeks.
It is not like the flexibility in trucking where a load can be diverted elsewhere due to a labor strike, weather factors or any number of other reasons.
Container terminals reopened Dec. 5 at both California ports as clerical workers in International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 63 reached a tentative contract with operators and shipping lines, as the union sought limits on outsourcing. In L.A. about 700 striking harbor clerks were backed by thousands of longshoremen who honored their picket line.
About $8 billion was lost in the strike to the local economy.
While the strike has ended, the congestion has not.
The cold chain was maintained, but there were concerns about arrival conditions and the possibility of an increase in orders that could challenge capacity.
It has been report the impacts of the strike will be far greater than just eight days. In 2002 there was a 10-day strike. It took months the boats could get back in the right rotation. This could adversely affect, for example, imported fruit from Chile arriving at Long Beach.