Operators were being ordered to completely stop loading and unloading ships at night, beginning Jan. 14, according to a report on Hellenic Shipping News.
This action was taken due to a labor dispute at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
Members of the Pacific Maritime Association will not be assigning any vessel gangs or crews to move cargo off of and onto ships at night, the association said. At issue is the increasing backup of cargo containers that the group says is the “result of an intentional work slowdown tactic by the dockworkers union.”
The labor dispute is between the Pacific Maritime Association, the International Brotherhood of Longshore and Warehouse Union, Local 13. The union is only allowing trained and certified crane operators to work at the terminals, according to Adan Ortega, a spokesman for the ILWU.
Ortega said terminal operators are not offering enough training for workers and have become “over-reliant on untrained and uncertified crane operators.”
More on the port labor dispute at “Shipping companies at ports of Long Beach, Los Angeles stop crews from unloading at night.”
