Los Angeles boss Gene Seroka has issued an open invitation to union leaders to work with the rest of the port community on efforts to restore customer relations and protect cargo traffic after months of disruption that has driven business away.
Mr Seroka, who was appointed executive director of the port last June, just as talks between the Pacific Maritime Association and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union on a new contract were starting, says labour “needs to be at the table with the other stakeholders to help develop better plans for tomorrow, and all the indications that I have received is that labour would be willing participants in this discussion”.
Similar sentiments were expressed a few days earlier by Bobby Olvera, who has just been re-elected president of the powerful ILWU Local 13 covering Los Angeles and Long Beach, who said his members would welcome the chance to help on initiatives to improve cargo velocity through the two ports.
Mr Seroka, who spent more than 25 years with the liner company APL, had been on the PMA board before he stated his current job, and was involved in the preparations for the talks on a new contract to replace the last one that expired on July 1.
