Looming labor problems shaping up at East and Gulf Coast ports this fall have apparel makers, retailers and other shippers scratching their heads and wondering whether they should send their holiday shipments to the West Coast.
Contract negotiations between the International Longshoremen’s Association and the United States Maritime Alliance—which represents East Coast shipping lines, terminal operators and 14 ports—got underway in March for a contract that expires Sept. 30.
“There have been rumblings about diverting cargo,” said Vincent Salvo, co-president of Carmichael International Service, a Los Angeles freight forwarder and customs broker that has many apparel clients.
Port executives may be optimistic about a cargo windfall this autumn, but West Coast longshore workers could dampen that spirit.
In early May, ILWU President Bob McEllrath stated that West Coast dock workers would stand in solidarity with their East Coast brethren when it comes to protecting job jurisdiction as employers introduce new automated cargo-handling equipment.
“No one should listen to the recent hum of industry executives suggesting they know what dockworkers on the West Coast will or won’t do in support of our East Coast brothers and sisters,” he said in a press release. “The fact is that we have their back in the fight to protect work and jurisdiction. Their fight is our fight.”