The port complex to the brink of gridlock
ILWU denied this in a press release issued on November 10:
Obscuring months of data regarding the non-labor related causes of the current crisis-level congestion problem, PMA’s Texas-based public relations firm announced that the ILWU was the cause bringing “the port complex to the brink of gridlock.” The public relations firm also propagandized about the ILWU, its leadership, and false claims of safety issues.
They contended that the delays are due instead to an exodus of truck drivers from their industry because trucking companies refuse to pay a living wage, record retail import volumes and larger vessels discharging enormous amounts of cargo. That concern was echoed by truck drivers, who walked off the job earlier this week as well. They’ve struck multiple times this year, complaining of what they say is improper classification as independent contractors and low wages. While it isn’t yet clear whether the drivers’ strike is significantly impacting the flow of goods from the port, if longshore workers choose to join the truckers, the ports would likely be thrown into total chaos.
A coalition of retailers, wholesalers, farmers and manufactures from the National Retail Federation (NRF) issued a letter to President Obama asking for federal mediation in the longshore workers’ contract negotiations. Even before the truckers’ strike, the coalition feared the consequences of the worker unrest:
The threat of a West Coast port shutdown is creating high levels of uncertainty in a fragile economic climate which has forced many businesses to once again undertake contingency plans that come at a significant cost to jobs and our economic competitiveness.