IMPORT & EXPORT

Port Cargo Container Volumes Drop as Longshore Contract Negotiations Continue

Work slowdowns, idling ships and closed weekend gates all contributed to cargo volumes at California’s ports dropping precipitously in January compared with the same month last year.

The Port of Long Beach said its cargo-container volume slipped 18.8 percent in January compared with the previous year. Overall, 429,490 containers measuring 20 feet in length were handled at the port during the first month of this year.

The Port of Los Angeles has not come out with its January tally yet, but port spokesman Phillip Sanfield said cargo volume is expected to be off by at least 20 percent compared with last year’s 685,549 containers.

The situation was more acute at the Port of Oakland in northern California, where cargo-container volumes slumped nearly 30 percent in January to 138,055 containers.

To make matters worse at the Port of Oakland, longshore workers there decided to take the day off on Feb. 19, skipping the 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. shift to attend a monthly union meeting. That meant that 12 vessels docked had to wait even longer to be unloaded.

Meanwhile, contract negotiations between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and their employers, the Pacific Maritime Association, continued in San Francisco with the help of a federal mediator and Labor Secretary Tom Perez, who was sent by President Obama to help end the long and drawn-out negotiations, which have lasted nine months.

A new five-year contract would replace the one that expired on July 1, covering nearly 20,000 workers at 29 West Coast ports.