Busiest U.S. port sees record volume ahead of high-stakes labor talks

div classBodysc17zpet90 cdBBJodivpBy Lisa Baertleinp

pLOS ANGELES Reuters – The Port of Los Angeles, the nations busiest, on Tuesday reported record firstquarter volume as anxiety builds ahead of the July 1 expiration of the labor contract covering some 22,000 West Coast dock workers.pdivdivdiv classBodysc17zpet90 cdBBJodiv

pThe Port of Los Angeles handles about 40 of U.S. container cargo and is home to more union workers than any of the 29 Pacific Coast ports.p

pAn impasse in the West Coast talks threatens to undo progress at the Port of Los Angeles. Despite a continued flood of imports, workers there are whittling down pandemicfueled cargo pileups that contributed to inventory shortages, helped drive up consumer prices, and turned the surrounding bay into a parking lot.p

pThe National Retail Federation NRF and other groups that depend on West Coast ports like Los Angeles are pressuring the dockworkers‘ union and employers to quickly hammer out an agreement to avoid further injury to the world’s battered supply chains.p

pThe International Longshore and Warehouse Union ILWU, which represents West Coast dockworkers, and the Pacific Maritime Association PMA, representing employers, are scheduled to kick off talks on May 12 in San Francisco. p

pSuch labor talks are historically fraught. The last round of negotiations in 20142015 resulted in an eightday work stoppage that sapped an estimated 8 billion from the Southern California economy. Service did not recover for roughly nine months.p

pOn Tuesday, Los Angeles port Executive Director Gene Seroka said increased staffing helped slash vessel backups by speeding up cargo movement – even as firstquarter volumes climbed 3.5 to an alltime high of 2.68 million 20foot equivalent units TEU. p

pMeanwhile, bottlenecks are building at Asian ports as outbreaks of a highly contagious Omicron variant disrupt the free flow of trade and threaten to unleash a new wave of global supply chain shocks.p

p“Were still facing a global supply chain crisis … we certainly hope the West Coast labor negotiation doesnt further complicate that ongoing crisis,” Jonathan Gold, vice president supply chain and customs policy at NRF, told Reuters. p

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pp Reporting by Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles Editing by Richard Changp

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