Port of Los Angeles and county officials celebrated the groundbreaking of the first-of-its-kind Goods Movement Training Center Friday afternoon.
Located on a vacant parcel near APM Terminals on Pier 400, the largest container port terminal in the Western Hemisphere, the project will include the construction of a metal structure that will help in the training process, Mark Jurisic, labor relations representative for the ILWU Local 13, told the Business Journal.
“It’s going to be designed with working bays so we can actually bring in equipment that [dockworkers] currently work on the job,” Jurisic said. “And we can bring in new equipment so we can teach people wanting to learn … or upskill the current workforce.”
The training center is expected to provide maintenance, repair, upskill and re-skill training for 900 registered longshore workers and mechanics working within the San Pedro Bay port complex, which includes the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
“We know that a strong port starts with a strong workforce,” LA Mayor Eric Garcetti said during a press conference. “These things don’t move automatically. It’s human beings that show up every day to work these docks, to build this port, who have made this America’s port.”
The groundbreaking took three years of negotiations and effort between the PMA and three local unions—ILWU locals 13, 63 and 90—Local 13 President Ramon Ponce de Leon said during the press conference.
“We can work together and move the membership into other jobs,” Ponce de Leon said, noting shifts in the industry toward electric equipment. “Training is important to keep the community workforce in a job. The employers recognize that and are putting up the money for this.”