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Port prepares for longshoremen strike
By Michael Welles Shapiro, mwshapiro@dailypress.com | 757-247-4744
September 1, 2012
Local port officials are readying for what would be the first East Coast longshoremen's strike in 35 years, even as they hope it can be averted ahead of a Sept. 30 deadline.
"We're making preparations to move as much cargo as possible between now and Oct. 1," said Joe Harris, a spokesman for the Virginia Port Authority.
Officials with the port authority and Virginia International Terminals, which runs the ports and has a contract with the longshoremen's union locals in Hampton Roads, have started mapping out their contingency plans, Harris said.
If a strike does occur, he said, no cargo would move by rail or truck. The VPA would be at full staff, while VIT would maintain a skeleton staff.
The National Retail Federation has urged negotiators for the International Longshoremen's Association and port and shipping executives to re-start negotiations, saying a strike would have dire consequences for merchants because it will disrupt preparations for the holiday shopping season.
"We know several retailers that even before negotiations broke down had already put contingency plans in place just to be on the safe side, so they either rerouted some cargo to the West Coast or brought it in earlier," said Jonathan Gold, vice president of supply chain and customs policy for the federation.
"With talks breaking down (other retailers) have less than a week to put contingency plans in place if they don't want to get caught up in a strike on Oct. 1," Gold said in a phone interview.
In addition to shipping early or re-routing through a West Coast port, some stores will consider importing goods by air, he said, an option that is usually avoided since it is eight to 10 times as expensive.
"Nothing's going to come cheap right now as far as your options," Gold said.
VIT president and CEO Joe Dorto on Friday predicted 10 percent to 15 percent of "our customerers will immediately make plans to shift a portion of their cargo to West Coast ports."
He said there will be a lag effect in terms of the local impact of any such shift, "as cargo on the water today will still move to Virginia."
VPA and VIT officials have had multiple conversations with cargo owners to plan for squeezing more cargo into the port in advance of a potential strike, according to a VPA news release issued Friday.
Next week, the release says, VPA and VIT will meet with port businesses, longshoremen and security officials to discuss what would happen on the piers in the event of a work stoppage.
Until then, Harris said, "We believe we'll be handling cargo up until the last minute," with the possibility of a record number of containers moving through the port during the lead-up to Oct. 1.
"We may see a lot of volume over this next five weeks, but we're hoping this thing sorts itself."
Talks that had started in March broke off between the International Longshoremen's Association and the United States Maritime Association on Aug 22. That came after some progress on issues and tentative agreements on several issues including job security even as ports become more automated.
The association reportedly insisted that terminal efficiency measures be put on the table, prompting the union to cut off negotiations.
By Michael Welles Shapiro, mwshapiro@dailypress.com | 757-247-4744
September 1, 2012
Local port officials are readying for what would be the first East Coast longshoremen's strike in 35 years, even as they hope it can be averted ahead of a Sept. 30 deadline.
"We're making preparations to move as much cargo as possible between now and Oct. 1," said Joe Harris, a spokesman for the Virginia Port Authority.
Officials with the port authority and Virginia International Terminals, which runs the ports and has a contract with the longshoremen's union locals in Hampton Roads, have started mapping out their contingency plans, Harris said.
If a strike does occur, he said, no cargo would move by rail or truck. The VPA would be at full staff, while VIT would maintain a skeleton staff.
The National Retail Federation has urged negotiators for the International Longshoremen's Association and port and shipping executives to re-start negotiations, saying a strike would have dire consequences for merchants because it will disrupt preparations for the holiday shopping season.
"We know several retailers that even before negotiations broke down had already put contingency plans in place just to be on the safe side, so they either rerouted some cargo to the West Coast or brought it in earlier," said Jonathan Gold, vice president of supply chain and customs policy for the federation.
"With talks breaking down (other retailers) have less than a week to put contingency plans in place if they don't want to get caught up in a strike on Oct. 1," Gold said in a phone interview.
In addition to shipping early or re-routing through a West Coast port, some stores will consider importing goods by air, he said, an option that is usually avoided since it is eight to 10 times as expensive.
"Nothing's going to come cheap right now as far as your options," Gold said.
VIT president and CEO Joe Dorto on Friday predicted 10 percent to 15 percent of "our customerers will immediately make plans to shift a portion of their cargo to West Coast ports."
He said there will be a lag effect in terms of the local impact of any such shift, "as cargo on the water today will still move to Virginia."
VPA and VIT officials have had multiple conversations with cargo owners to plan for squeezing more cargo into the port in advance of a potential strike, according to a VPA news release issued Friday.
Next week, the release says, VPA and VIT will meet with port businesses, longshoremen and security officials to discuss what would happen on the piers in the event of a work stoppage.
Until then, Harris said, "We believe we'll be handling cargo up until the last minute," with the possibility of a record number of containers moving through the port during the lead-up to Oct. 1.
"We may see a lot of volume over this next five weeks, but we're hoping this thing sorts itself."
Talks that had started in March broke off between the International Longshoremen's Association and the United States Maritime Association on Aug 22. That came after some progress on issues and tentative agreements on several issues including job security even as ports become more automated.
The association reportedly insisted that terminal efficiency measures be put on the table, prompting the union to cut off negotiations.
Just in time for Christmas! :bounce
Although the article doesn't really spell it out, this is a Maine-to-Texas strike.
I'm getting warning messages all up and down the supply chain, this looks serious.
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