ASSOCIATED PRESS Cargo ships sat yesterday at the Evergreen Container Terminal next to the Vincent Thomas Bridge in Los Angeles Harbor, with the loading cranes in the up position.
Lockout expected A planned 38-hour lockout of dockworkers on the West Coast is likely to delay Hawaii-bound cargo and already is bringing increased calls to air cargo companies.
to delay isle cargo
Air carriers get more traffic as
Retailers assure ample stock
West Coast docks talks take a turn
By Russ Lynch
rlynch@starbulletin.comBut if stevedores and other waterfront workers represented by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union show up for work tomorrow morning when the lockout ends, shippers say delays could be the worst effect.
Customers can expect delays of one or two days, said James Andrasick, president and chief executive officer of Matson Navigation Co.
The "defensive shutdown" by the Pacific Maritime Association, which represents shipping management on the West Coast, was to begin 6 p.m. yesterday and run until 8 a.m. tomorrow, Pacific Daylight Time, the San Francisco-headquartered PMA said.
Because of increased demand brought on by worries over the West Coast labor situation, Matson had put an extra ship into service. That vessel, the Lihue, left Oakland, Calif., for Honolulu on time yesterday afternoon, before the lockout.
Another Matson ship, the Kauai, was expected in Seattle last night and cannot be unloaded or reloaded for the Hawaii trip until the ILWU is back at work.
Andrasick said the container ship R.J. Pfeiffer, scheduled to sail from Los Angeles this morning, would not make its schedule.
"We, of course, are keeping our customers notified of any shipment delays," he said. "One way to look at the freight package on the R.J. Pfeiffer is that it really represents a cross section of Hawaii's economy. There's everything aboard that ship."
Delays do tend to stack up, Andrasick said, and once there is a holdup, "everything gets delayed."
Officials of CSX Lines, Matson's big competitor in the West Coast-Hawaii ocean freight trade, were not available for comment late yesterday.
CSX Lines does not appear to have an immediate problem, however. It has no Hawaii-bound ships scheduled to leave the West Coast until Wednesday, several days after the lockout is supposed to end.
Employers on the Hawaii docks are keeping silent about local negotiations, which are separate but usually follow the West Coast labor talks. No loss of work is expected in Hawaii because of the West Coast stoppage.
Airlines in Hawaii said they have been receiving inquiries about air freight capacity since the lockout was announced midday yesterday by PMA.
"It could mean a lot to me," said Thomas Ingram, regional manager-Pacific for Pacific Air Cargo, which makes five Boeing 747 all-cargo flights from the West Coast to Hawaii each week.
"My normal freighter is full," Ingram said, but he knows of other available aircraft and has the ground services in place in Hawaii to handle more cargo.
Hawaiian Airlines had some calls from cargo customers who were anticipating a problem, and "basically we're booked out of Los Angeles for this weekend," said spokesman Keoni Wagner.
Aloha Airlines, which also flies West Coast-Hawaii routes, is not anticipating an increase because "we don't have a lot of (cargo) space to begin with," said a spokeswoman, Stephanie Ackerman.
The ILWU has been negotiating since May with the PMA. The PMA said the ILWU, which represents about 10,500 workers on West Coast docks, had conducted work slowdowns beginning with Thursday's night shift. Ordered by ILWU headquarters, they amounted to "strike with pay actions" in which the union members would continue to earn money despite deliberately impeding dock activity, the PMA said.
PMA President Joseph Miniace called the lockout "a very, very tough decision" but one that the association had to make because the union was bargaining in bad faith.
The Bush administration urged both sides to resolve the dispute but said it would not intervene to keep the docks open.
"At this point we are hopeful the two parties will come back to the bargaining table in good faith," Department of Labor spokeswoman Sue Hensley said. "We are monitoring this very closely."
A spokesman for the ILWU said union negotiators wanted to keep talking. The union learned of the lockout yesterday morning from association negotiators when the two sides met for talks.
"Miniace showed the same disrespect for the union he has since the beginning of these talks," union President James Spinosa said. "He is unilaterally taking the action of closing all ports and bears full responsibility for its effects on the American economy."
The crisis was foreshadowed Thursday evening when the association said longshoremen were slowing the pace of work at ports in Los Angeles; Oakland, Calif.; Portland, Ore.; Seattle; and Tacoma, Wash.
The union issued a directive earlier Thursday telling the workers it represents at all 29 major Pacific ports to work in strict accordance with all safety and health rules.
Star-Bulletin reporter Dave Segal and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
Pacific Maritime Association
International Longshore and Warehouse Union
