Terminal operators at ports up and down the West Coast say they will temporarily suspend some operations for the weekend, citing “ongoing union slowdowns” that have allegedly “brought the ports almost to a standstill.”
A spokeswoman for the ILWU said in an email Friday, “The PMA is playing a dangerous and unnecessary game of brinkmanship by idling vessels for two days in a not-too-disguised effort to intimidate the ILWU membership.”
On Thursday afternoon, the ILWU circulated photos of empty yards at the ports. President Robert McEllrath said in a statement accompanying the photos, “PMA is leaving ships at sea and claiming there’s no space on the docks, but there are acres of asphalt just waiting for the containers on those ships, and hundreds of longshore workers ready to unload them.”
As of Friday morning, 26 ships were waiting at anchor outside the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
