Shippers decry ILA plan for port shutdowns

The Agriculture Transportation Coalition, National Industrial Transportation League and National Retail Federation expressed concerns over a threatened work stoppage at East and Gulf Coast ports by members of the International Longshoremen’s Association.    Peter Friedmann, executive director of the Agriculture Transportation Coalition (AgTC), a shipper group that represents exporters of agricultural and forest products, wrote a letter “on behalf of U.S. agriculture, forest products and commodities exporters” on Thursday to Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao to express concern over the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) calling for a shutdown of ports along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, which was announced Tuesday.
   The ILA also called for a March in Washington, which it said was to “protest job loss and the resulting negative impacts on America’s economy.”
   “We ask that you bring your experience and office to bear to prevent such a shutdown, and to protect the economy from injury that in some cases will be irreversible,” Friedmann told Chao in the letter.
   “Unfortunately, we have ample and recent experience as to the impact of the shutdown of operations of marine terminals – in 2002, 2014-2015 and sporadic disruption in between,” he wrote. “Another shutdown of our ports, would again undermine our reputation as dependable suppliers.”
   Friedmann said that for every day a terminal is shut down, it takes at least six days to recover, and in many cases, even longer.
    “Our exports constantly face the challenge of foreign competition,” Friedmann said. “There is nothing that we export in agriculture, forest products and many commodities, that cannot be sourced somewhere else in the world. If we do not deliver efficiently, affordably and dependably, our foreign customers have demonstrated that they can and will find another source in another country.”
   Late Thursday, the National Retail Federation (NRF) also released a statement, urging the ILA and management to avoid a port shutdown.
   “Thousands of companies and millions of workers rely on these ports and any disruption to their activity, even for a day, could have a negative impact on the U.S. economy,” NRF Vice President for Supply Chain and Customs Policy Jon Gold said. “While the union might have concerns with certain local government actions, engaging in a coast-wide shutdown is not the answer. We encourage labor and management to work together and with the government to arrive at a solution that does not disrupt the efficient movement of goods through the nation’s ports.
   “We applaud the fact that the ILA and the U.S. Maritime Alliance have begun informal discussions on a contract extension well in advance of the current contract expiration, but proposing a shutdown runs counter to this spirit of cooperation and may threaten this positive action,” Gold added. “We urge the ILA to reconsider its plans and avoid damaging the image of East Coast and Gulf Coast ports as reliable business partners for retailers and other shippers.”
   The National Industrial Transportation League, the country’s largest shipper organization, also issued a statement, nothing, “The two issues cited by the ILA as the basis for a possible protest in Washington are local matters that should be dealt with locally and not by imposing economic penalties on companies that rely on efficient port operations. We encourage all parties to come together to resolve this issue instead of affecting U.S. workers and companies that are committed to getting their products to global customers.”
   The ILA said that a date for the protest would be announced next week. Kenneth Riley, ILA vice president and president of ILA Local 1422, in Charleston, S.C., who is quoted in Tuesday’s press release, said the event might be held in the next 30 days.
   On Wednesday, the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX), the employer group that negotiates the master contract with the ILA, called the ILA’s planned work stoppage threat “disturbing.”
   “The master contract between the ILA and the USMX forbids any unilateral work stoppage by the ILA for any reason,” the USMX said. “If the ILA engages in any unilateral walkout, USMX will enforce the contractual rights of its members to the fullest. USMX urges the ILA to remain in compliance with the master contract and thus continue to provide the stable labor environment that has existed on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts for decades.”