Lower container volumes = less work for ILWU
My colleague mentioned the NRF (National Retail Federation) report on lower yearly container volume in 2008 vs. 2007 (6.5%, to be exact). I just read an article over at American Shipper outlining the woes of ILWU labor, where “casuals”, the part time labor who pick up the extra work that full-time ILWU members can’t handle, are having a difficult time finding work as a result of lower cargo volumes:
The ILWU has two generic types of workers: casual members and registered members. Casuals are part-time workers who must accumulate a set number of work hours within a certain period to qualify for a full-time registered position. Registered positions include longshoremen, clerks and foremen. Because the casuals only get extra work that cannot be filled first by full-time ILWU members, the current downturn at the ports has hit the casuals significantly harder.
The nearly 9,500 ILWU casuals in Southern California have experienced the worst West Coast reduction, with a nearly 60 percent drop off in available work hours from 1.64 million hours for the first 41 weeks of last year to 687,000 hours this year. These are work levels not seen by casuals at the Long Beach and Los Angeles ports since 1999.
Work available for the nearly 300 Oakland casuals has dropped by nearly 47 percent, from 28,236 hours last year to 15,186 hours this year. The last time casuals in Oakland saw this level of available work was in 2002.
Things are only going to get worse for the ports and the ILWU as imports continue to decline due to weakened consumer demand and export growth slows. Not to mention the decreasing competitiveness of Southern California ports due to their ever increasing regulatory and cost burdens on the local and national economy. With the economy in a downturn, the port authorities should be extra careful to avoid further burdening the trade industry and the resultant loss in business and volume. Anything that can be done to encourage trade and cargo volume and make it cheaper and easier to bring cargo through the ports should be considered – that’s good for the trade industry, good for ILWU labor, and good for the economy. Unfortunately, too many or our port authorities are more concerned about politics than the economy.
More on the volume troubles at West Coast ports here:
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