Reefer Container Scare Leads to Seattle, Oakland Stoppages

From the Journal of Commerce, Oct. 31:

Maritime authorities report that three of the reefer containers exploded or caused fire, resulting in two fatalities in Vietnam and one in Brazil during the spring.

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union local in Oakland is refusing to work three vessels at the SSA Marine terminal, demanding that the terminal provide a history of all of the containers on the vessels. SSA Marine is willing to identify all of the containers that are from Vietnam, as is being done at facilities in Southern California. Two ships at the TraPac terminal have been idled.

The Pacific Maritime Association, which represents waterfront employers, reached that agreement with the ILWU local in Los Angeles-Long Beach, but the ILWU local in Oakland reportedly wants the entire history of all reefer containers.

A similar job action occurred over the weekend in Seattle-Tacoma, but employers and the ILWU local also reached an agreement and longshoremen are back to handling reefer containers in the Pacific Northwest.