Shipper groups call for "immediate action" by Obama administration to help end LA-LB strike
More than 40 organizations representing agricultural shippers, manufacturers, various state retail organizations, logistics providers and trade associations urged the Obama administration to help end the week-long strike by office clerical workers that is crippling the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the Journal of Commerce reported.
“We urge you to take immediate action and use whatever means necessary, including Taft-Hartley, to get labor back to work in the nation’s largest port,” the trade coalition stated in its letter Monday to the White House.
The Office Clerical Unit of International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 63 posted pickets last week at 10 container terminals. The ILWU dockworkers refused to cross the picket lines, thereby shutting down cargo-handling at the facilities.
If the strike at 10 of the 14 container terminals is allowed to continue, manufacturers requiring parts for their production lines may have to suspend operations, exporters will fail to meet delivery deadlines, retailers will be unable to get merchandise to their store shelves in a timely fashion and further orders could be cancelled, the groups stated.
The coalition that signed the letter represents as broad range of organizations including the Agriculture Transportation Coalition, Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, National Cotton Council, National Industrial Transportation League and a number of other trade groups.