Southern California dockworkers disrupted cargo activity Friday at the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports — major entry points for the country’s imports — after contract talks deteriorated in recent days, causing the ports to shut down.
The Pacific Maritime Assn., the union that represents shipping companies and port terminal operators, said the International Longshore and Warehouse Union “is staging concerted and disruptive work actions that have effectively shut down operations” at several terminals in Los Angeles, Long Beach, Oakland, Tacoma and Seattle.
The union held stop-work meetings Thursday night, and on Friday, members either didn’t show up for work or staged individual work slowdowns. The combination snarled traffic at the ports, forcing terminals to shut down.
The powerful union’s latest work action is the boldest so far to sway contract negotiations that began more than a year ago. More than 22,000 dockworkers and 29 West Coast ports have been working without a contract since July 1.
ILWU Local 13, which represents about 12,000 Southern California dockworkers, said its members have “taken it upon themselves to voice their displeasure with the ocean carriers’ and terminal operators’ position.”
In April, local dockworkers forced an approximately 24-hour shutdown at the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports, exacerbating fears that failure of the high-stakes labor negotiations could bring about a paralyzing strike like the one in 2008.