Industry warns of crippling impact of work stoppage at US ports
Robert Wright
FT.com
January 18, 2015
Representatives of two key industries have warned about the severe risks for the US economy if the increasingly sour atmosphere surrounding a simmering labour dispute leads to a full-blown work stoppage at US west coast ports.
Matt Priest, president of the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America, said it would be “catastrophic” if the dispute — which has gone on for more than six months — led to a complete work stoppage in the already severely congested ports.
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The North American Meat Institute, which represents meat and poultry producers, warned that its members faced $30m losses per week because of the disruption to exports. A full stoppage would only worsen the problems.
Numerous sectors of the US economy have suffered severe disruption because of congestion at the ports, which has held up containers to and from Asia. The Federal Reserve noted the dispute’s disruptive effect in a report on US economic activity on January 14.
The Pacific Maritime Association, representing employers, and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, representing workers, have been in fruitless negotiations for eight months over a new labour contract at ports in California, Oregon and Washington. Workers have been without a contract since the previous six-year agreement expired on July 1.
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