West Coast Ports Still A Mess. Longshoremen Union Work Slow Down (my title).

Shipping companies filed productivity numbers Wednesday with the U.S. Justice Department that they say proves there is a “concerted, systematic work slowdown” by the longshore union.

The Pacific Maritime Association, representing shipping companies in the ongoing contract dispute with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, said it has documented significant declines in productivity. Container movements are down 9 percent in the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the PMA said, but the figures were higher at other West Coast ports: 34 percent in Oakland, 29 percent in Portland, 27 percent in Seattle and 19 percent in Tacoma, according to the PMA.

The figures compare the number of containers longshoremen moved on and off a vessel each hour at a particular port before the lockout with container moves since the lockout ended.

“They’re comparing apples to oranges,” consultant Steve Mann said. “We all knew that after the lockout it would take time to undo the congestion.”

The union blames the PMA for shutting down West Coast ports and creating the huge backlog of cargo.

The association can’t prove a deliberate slowdown, union spokesman Steve Stallone said, “not with all the complications that are going on.”

He said the congestion and chaos on the docks has led to gridlock and unsafe working conditions.

The records are pivotal because federal prosecutors could use them to take the ILWU to court on allegations its members are violating a federal order that reopened 90 major Pacific ports after the lockout ended earlier this month.

In a written response, the Justice Department acknowledged receiving the documents during the weekend and asked the association and the union to provide further information by Friday.

“As you know, these are serious allegations,” Deputy Assistant Attorney General Shannen W. Coffin wrote in a letter dated Tuesday to both sides.

The allegations could land the union in trouble if Justice Department lawyers conclude the documents prove a slowdown that violates a court order to work at “a normal pace.” If that happens, the case could be heading for U.S. District Judge William Alsup, who imposed an 80-day “cooling-off” period to end the lockout that cost the U.S. economy up to $1 billion a day.

Alsup has broad discretion to sanction the union and could fine union officials or charge them with contempt of court.

“The ILWU is playing games with the U.S. economy,” PMA President and CEO Joe Miniace said in a written statement. “Given the extreme urgency of keeping the goods moving through our ports, I cannot fathom why the union would deliberately take these slowdown actions.”

Miniace blamed deliberate undermanning and coordinated sick-ins for the slowdown. Association officials refused a request that they share a copy of the filing.

“We’re being told by APL (American President Lines) that we’re breaking records,” he said. “It’s really an insult to the hard-working Americans who are trying to work through the mess caused by the lockout.”

The PMA locked out workers for 10 days when negotiations reached an impasse. Workers returned to the job after a court order forced the ports to reopen.

Talks are set to resume today in San Francisco with a federal mediator, Mann said.

Meanwhile, U.S. senators from key West Coast port states, including Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer of California, have sent a letter to Labor Secretary Elaine Chao asking the Department of Labor to send federal inspectors to the ports to monitor health and safety conditions and enforce existing regulations.

The lawmakers have asked that due to the hazardous work performed by longshoremen, the federal inspectors remain on site until the backlog of cargo is processed.

The press is really soft peddling this story. It is just as serious as before, unless you consider getting a few containers an hour improvement. Trucks are backed up 50 deep and waiting for hours.

I was in the port of Los Angeles today. Things were SLOW, once again the ones paying are the owner operator truck drivers in the port, while the 120K a year union guys are bitching about how bad they have it.

Tell me about it. There were 47 trucks lined up with no hope of getting our freight. If you have a day route truck you just head back empty, this after waiting for hours.

Before on a busy day maybe 8 or 10 trucks ahead of you and if it was slow, it took 2 hours.

Don't tell me these guys are not slowing down.

When is the media going to report it like it is? It is a work stopage when it is as bad as it is now.

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