A shortage of dock workers on the West Coast forced the busiest U.S. ocean trade gateway to shut on Friday, after months of tense labor negotiations between the dock workers’ union and their employers.
In line with the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), on Thursday, Los Angeles and Long Beach port workers began halting work needed to load and unload cargo as a part of a coordinated motion by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU). ), which represents employers.
“The union’s actions effectively closed the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach,” the PMA said in an announcement.
Long Beach Harbor operators decided to temporarily close 4 of the seaport’s six terminals after workers failed to indicate up Friday morning, Port spokesman Lee Peterson said, adding that regular port operations are expected to resume on Saturday.
Los Angeles Port officials have been communicating with the ILWU and PMA, in addition to federal, state and local officials, to “support a return to normal operations,” said a gaggle run by the Los Angeles City Unit.
A representative for ILWU Local 13, which represents workers at each Los Angeles and Long Beach ports, declined to comment.
Port union workers have been working with out a contract for the reason that previous contract expired on July 1, 2022, and a labor dispute has forced major retailers to shift cargo to East and Gulf Coast ports to avoid disruption.
The ILWU and the PMA recently said they’d reached a tentative agreement on key sticking points within the negotiations and pledged to resolve the deal quickly because the Biden administration continued to satisfy with groups to assist facilitate a deal.