Port shutdowns caused by labor-management disputes continued at the Port of Oakland March 9 and 11, despite a tentative deal reached in February between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association (see 1502230002). The Oakland International Container Terminal, one of five at the port, sent longshoremen home early on March 11 “after they refused to work due to a dispute over staffing levels,” according to an update on the Port of Oakland website (here). The same terminal also had a “labor-management staffing issue” on March 9 that resulted in import containers not being “available for pick-up.” All marine terminals, including the Oakland International Container Terminal, were back open as of 9:25 a.m. PDT on March 12, according to the Port of Oakland.

Skullcandy spent more than $1.1 million on air freight in Q4 to circumvent the West Coast ports slowdown and deliver headphones and other consumer products to retail for the crucial holiday selling season, Chief Financial Officer Jason Hodell said March 5 on an earnings call. For Q4, the company also estimates it had about $3 million worth of inventory sitting “unfortunately idle” at the port of Seattle while the labor slowdowns continued, Hodell said. “Without the port slowdown, this inventory would likely have been consumed in Q4,” he said. As the West Coast ports crisis wasn’t resolved until the breakthrough in contract negotiations in late February and backlogs were expected to continue for weeks thereafter (see 1502240004), Skullcandy anticipates incurring additional air freight costs that will reduce earnings per share by at least a penny when it reports Q1 results, he said. But "this is a short-term issue,” he said.

The Panama Canal expansion project will help pave the way for more U.S. trade with Asia, a trend expected to continue if a Trans-Pacific Partnership is finalized, by offering an alternative shipping route to the Suez Canal, said panelists at the International Chamber of Commerce and U.S. Council for International Business symposium on Feb. 24 in Miami. The expansion will allow ships to pass through with more than 14 ft. in depth, said one expert, as well as 13,000 twenty-foot equivalent units in size (see 14022816).

The Federal Maritime Commission is "evaluating" the use of port congestion-related demurrage fees by carriers and terminal operators, said FMC Chairman Mario Cordero in testimony Feb. 25. Cordero discussed the agency with the House Marine Transportation Subcommittee during a hearing (here). "Many shippers" say such fees are unfair, he said. "With disappointing frequency, the Commission is receiving complaints by shippers about how shippers are repeatedly told that they may not retrieve a container due to on-dock congestion or delays at the gate. Worse yet, some shippers find out that once the container is finally made available, the carrier and marine terminal operator will not release it until the shipper pays demurrage for not picking up the container before free-time expires. " The question of the legality of such charges recently came up in relation to congestion issues at the West Coast ports (see 1411180015).

Despite a tentative agreement between the Pacific Maritime Association and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, it will take some time before the West Coast ports can get up to full speed. "My understanding is that it’s going to take quite some time for the backlog to clear out,” said Sage Chandler, Consumer Electronics Association vice president-international trade. “I’ve heard companies saying they expect things will be slow for another month.” There’s “just so much backlog that’s going to continue to affect things, but companies certainly are breathing a major sigh of relief” that a contract settlement was finally reached, she said. The agreement must be ratified by the two sides (see 1502230002).

Congestion at the West Coast seaports hurt cargo movement in January at the Port of Long Beach, the port said (here). The month's containerized cargo imports accounted for some 213,667 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), a 23.5 percent decline from January 2014, it said. Exports were down 19.6 percent to 98,462 TEUs and empty containers declined 7.6 percent to 117,361 TEUs, said the port. The decreases were a result of the congestion and related labor contract dispute, the port said. “We have been strongly urging the two parties to come to an agreement on a new contract, so that we can clear the backlog of cargo on the docks and the ships anchored off the coast,” said Port of Long Beach Chief Executive Jon Slangerup. “We are encouraged by recent progress through federal mediation and are hopeful that the contract will be signed soon, so that the Port complex can focus on returning operations to a normal pace.”

Labor Secretary Tom Perez is giving the Pacific Maritime Association and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union until Feb. 20 to reach an agreement on the months-long labor contract impasse at West Coast ports, National Retail Federation trade expert Jonathan Gold said in a statement (here). If the two sides fail to strike a deal, Perez should send contract negotiators to Washington to bring a final resolution on a new contract, said Gold.

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union put the blame for the West Coast labor impasse squarely on its counterpart in the crisis, the Pacific Maritime Association, on Feb. 12, hours after PMA shut down work at the ports for that day, as well as Feb. 14-16. PMA, an association of employer companies at the ports, is sabotaging the talks in order to "gain leverage," said an ILWU statement. The association cut ILWU work for those days in protest over paying premium rates for slowdowns and "diminished productivity" (here).

The Pacific Maritime Association and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union resumed their public relations war on Feb. 9, with the PMA accusing the ILWU of insisting on the right to independently fire contract arbitrators in a long-term deal. An ILWU spokesman didn’t comment on that part of the negotiations, but said there are only a “few remaining issues” in dispute. The two sides are continuing to talk, and the union is committed to striking a new contract deal “as quickly as possible,” said the ILWU spokesman.

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union and Pacific Maritime Association have reached a tentative agreement on chassis maintenance and repair, a major roadblock in West Coast port labor negotiations, according to a Jan. 27 press release from the American Association of Port Authorities (here). Since ocean carriers had stopped providing chassis, the ILWU had “long desired” the jobs associated with chassis maintenance and repair, according to a report from the Long Beach Press-Telegram (here).