Trucks line up at the Port of Long Beach Monday afternoon. Photo by Sarah Bennett.
President Barack Obama joined a number of affected organizations and top local officials Monday in urging the two bargaining parties in the ongoing clerical-workers strike at the port of Los Angeles and Long Beach to come to an agreement as quickly as possible.
The strike—which began when members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 63 small Office Clerical Unit walked off the job at terminals in the Port of Los Angeles Tuesday and spread to the Port of Long Beach on Wednesday—is entering its second week of idling shipments that is crippling the nation’s busiest port complex.
“I can just tell you that we—and that includes the president—continue to monitor the situation in Los Angeles closely and urge the parties to continue their work at the negotiating table to get a deal done as quickly as possible,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters when asked about the strike during a White House press briefing.
An association representing more than 9,100 retail companies last week urged Obama to intervene on the strike, which is also being honored by the ILWU’s 10,000 members. The National Retail Federation’s letter also noted that Obama has the power to order the unions back to work under the Taft-Hartley Act with a temporary injunction that would declare an 80-day “cooling off period,” a tactic used last by George W. Bush in 2002 to force longshoremen back to work after a 10-day lockout that closed 29 West Coast ports.
“A prolonged strike at the nation’s largest ports would have a devastating impact on the U.S. economy,” National Retail Federation President and CEO Matthew Shay wrote in a letter to the president dated Nov. 29. “We call upon you to use all means necessary to get the two sides back to the negotiating table.”
The NRF, which describes itself as the world’s largest retail trade association, said 2002’s 10-day lockout led to significant supply chain disruptions that took six months to remedy and cost the economy an estimated $1 billion a day.
“We have some of the best and most efficient cargo facilities and workers in the world,” said Port of Long Beach Executive Director J. Christopher Lytle in a statement echoing similar ones from Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Geraldine Knatz. “A quick resolution is critical to maintaining our status as the country’s premier gateway for trans-Pacific trade and we urge the parties to come to an agreement soon.”
The only word on negotiation status as of Monday evening comes from Local 63 OCU President John Fageaux, who called the status of negotiations “discouraging.” Fageaux said the the union had offered substantial concessions to achieve a deal during negotiations in recent days, but said the Harbor Employers Association, which represents 14 shipping companies, had not budged from its position.
Stephen L. Berry, chief negotiator for the employers group, was not immediately available for comment.