Potential West Coast dock strike looms
Potential West Coast dock strike looms
The six-year contract that West Coast dock workers have been operating under expired today, July 1, without a new contract, and although negotiations are continuing the possibility of a strike looms large.
Ken Gilliland, transportation expert for Western Growers Association in Irvine, CA, said that as of the latest information no strike or lockout has been called for, but it is always a possibility in labor negotiations. He said many importers and exporters remember the dock strike of 12 years ago, in 2002, which lasted 10 days and greatly disrupted movement of fresh produce. “It’s a big gamble to send product to the docks and then have a strike occur,” he said.
One Central Coast vegetable shipper, who asked not to be identified, is not planning to load product on the usual Thursday schedule this week. He typically ships broccoli and the product has to be fumigated for his overseas destination. “If I fumigate it and they go on strike and it can’t be shipped, I’ll have to destroy it. We are not willing to take that risk.”
This shipper said he is in constant contact with port officials and others, “but nobody really knows what’s going on, except the people in the negotiating room.”
Though he said reports about the negotiations have been positive, that won’t help if there is a strike and product has to be destroyed. “Our customers are still placing orders but they are not the ones taking the gamble if we can’t load.”
Gilliland said exporters are looking for alternatives if a strike occurs, but all 13 U.S. West Coast ports will be affected. There might be opportunities to load out of Mexico or Canada, but he said that will add shipping costs.
Currently vegetable exports is the sector experiencing the biggest effect, but if a strike occurs grapes, tree fruit and other items would be affected. On the import side, the summer months would typically have fewer shipments headed to the United States but there could be some effects with an item such as Peruvian avocados, though most of those shipments go into the East Coast.
