With employer and employee contract talks deadlocked, this wave of strike action at the U. S.-West port has entered its fourth day.
The Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), which represents sea carriers and terminal operators, said Friday that dockworkers are "engaged in a coordinated and disruptive strike action" that has halted or severely disrupted operations from terminals in the Los Angeles and Long Beach large container port complexes in Southern California to Seattle, with the Port of Oakland suffering the most disruption and disruption.
According to port officials, starting Thursday night, dockworkers did not show up for work on time and slowed down their operations at the port, which continued through Friday, and strike action continued over the weekend, which continued Monday.
International Terminal and Warehouse Workers Union (ILWU) International President Willie Adams said in a statement that negotiations are ongoing.
The latest strike action comes as labor negotiations between the PMA and the International Terminals and Warehouses Union (ILWU) enter their 13th month.
Adams said: "We will not accept an economic program that does not recognize the efforts and personal sacrifices of ILWU employees who helped the shipping industry make record profits during the early days of the outbreak-the cargo surge."
According to Descartes Datamyne data, in the first quarter of this year, the U.S. West Coast ports handled 40% of total U.S. container imports, down from 45% in the same period in 2019.
In recent weeks, severe drought and the possible arrival of the El Niño phenomenon is leading to the introduction of a series of draft restrictions on the Panama Canal, the United States East Coast shippers in the transportation costs and timeliness of the impact.
Consulting firm Vespucci Maritime CEO Lars Jensen in LinkedIn (LinkedIn) in a post said: "If this problem is not resolved soon, can be expected to have a domino chain effect."
according to Jensen, boats will be lining up on the West Coast, just as they were during the last protracted strike action eight years ago. Jensen predicted that if strikes become widespread and prolonged, ''freight rates to the United States could rise significantly. ''
US-East Freight Rising 11%, US-West Freight Rising Nearly 20%
According to the latest data from the Shanghai Shipping Exchange: On June 2, the latest issue of the Shanghai Export Container Composite Freight Index was 1028.70 points, compared with the previous period's 983.46 points, a single-week increase of 4.6 percent
Specific routes: among them, Shanghai exports to the United States and West freight (including surcharges) from the previous week's 1398 dollars/Feu rose to 1666 dollars/Feu, a single week soared 19.2!
Shanghai export to Meidong freight (including surcharges) rose to 2634 US dollars from 2374 US dollars/Feu the previous week, up 11.0 percent in a single week.
It is understood that previously, Los Angeles and Long Beach ports in the March 30 night shift and March 31 day shift between the shutdown for 24 hours, when the terminal is also closed.
West Coast port labor negotiations are not sure whether they will turn into major, long-term damage to the U.S. supply chain (as the 2014-2015 labor dispute did), but the longer they drag on, the worse they are.
In addition, has begun to rise the U. S.-West route freight, whether will be affected by the strike and has not yet reached an agreement on labor negotiations directly take off is also unknown!
But according to One Shipping, Maersk, Hapg-Lloyd and other shipping companies have started to push up a wave of U.S. line GRI.
Shipping Company Announces GRI Increase
Recently, Maersk announced that from June 25 onwards, will be shipped from India to the U.S. East Coast and Gulf Coast of all types of goods levied 800 U.S. dollars/TEU, 1000 U.S. dollars/FEU and per 45-foot box 1250 U.S. dollars GRI surcharge.
In addition, Hapg-Lloyd also announced an increase in the Middle East and Indian subcontinent to North America GRI /GRA.
Hapg-Lloyd said it would add $500 per container from July 1. The new GRI rates will apply to 20-foot and 40-foot dry and refrigerated containers, as well as special container shipments, including high-cube equipment.
The rate adjustment will apply to flights from India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Iraq to the United States and Canada.
Source: Ningbo Shipping