US companies fear a repeat of last summer’s supply-chain chaos – that left store shelves empty and fueled higher prices – as contract negotiations between longshoreman and operators of the nation’s largest ports remain adrift.
“The entire industry is on pins and needles,” said one manufacturer who ships goods to the West Coast from China. “This is a looming crisis and we’re hearing and reading nothing about any real progress on this and no messaging from the White House.” Daggett’s fiery speech posted on YouTube on May 13 added to the anxiety that ships will start to pile up again in the Pacific Ocean.
Before the talks began, Seroka produced a 22-minute video with Adams in which the men, sitting together by the water in April, presented a collegial image of two power brokers who know each other well and are friendly.Seroka added: “As we go through these negotiations, it’s seasoned professionals who are at the negotiating table. These people know what to do.”
The seeming impasse comes as US companies are bracing for a surge in shipments from China as the world’s second largest economy eases its COVID-related lockdowns. In the last contract, ILWU agreed to allow employers to install some automation at the ports. But now it seems that the union may be reconsidering those concessions, despite the fact that the automated terminals allow trucks to move cargo in and out of the terminals more quickly, according to a Journal of Commerce report.
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