The day after union members returned to work at the three Port of Long Beach terminals affected by the recent clerical worker strike, Port officials announced that it will be waiving its portion of cargo fees incurred or impacted by the forced closures.
Ports typically assess fees on cargo containers that linger in its terminals beyond a certain grace period, said a statement from the Port. But because the eight-day closure of three container terminals contributed to a bottleneck throughout the entire port complex, those closed by the recent work stoppage will have some cargo fees waived to provide financial relief and to expedite the movement of containers.
“We are relieved to return to full operations and we want to do our part in getting things back to normal as soon as possible,” said Port of Long Beach Executive Director J. Christopher Lytle. “Hundreds of thousands of jobs are dependent on our local ports, so the work now begins to clear the backlog and to get our economic engine humming again.”
The strike began when members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 63’s Office Clerical Unit walked off the job at the Port of Los Angeles on November 27. With more than 10,000 ILWU members honoring the picket lines, the strike spread to the Port of Long Beach the following day, shutting down three of the port’s six terminals until a tentative agreement was made between the OCU and the Harbor Employers Association late Tuesday night.
Both the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach were fully operational as of Wednesday morning.
“What we want to do is minimize the impact of the closure on our customers,” Lytle said. “We will continue working closely with all the stakeholders for a smooth transition to normal operations.”