Taking a Ferry from the Seattle waterfront to Bremerton to do a bit of mushroom foraging in the forests around Seabeck, I was curious at the Seattle Waterfront crowded with container ships and grain ships lying at anchor. Was this the result of the new alliance between Seattle and Tacoma? No... Longshoreman work slow downs...The ILWU's job actions, which have already crippled operations at the ports of Seattle and Tacoma, now threaten to do the same in Los Angeles and Long Beach. Together, these four ports collectively handle nearly 80% of all containerized cargo at West Coast ports. The job actions began soon after a PMA offer responding to the ILWU's demands during contract negotiations last week.
I am a longshoreman, but mercenary as hell, so I was on the management side of the 1982 West Coast Master Contract negotiations in San Francisco, representing the small unionized import company I was managing. If the longshoreman want the best deal, now is the time to do it. We live in a false economy, so they need to cut the best deal that they can, when they can. My sympathies are with the longshoreman. It won't take long to get management to cry uncle, and there are not others who can do this highly technical work. Honor labor!
But what about the small importer who has foods held up? The small importer ought to have his minimum LCL orders spread out in the supply chain so he can manage these kinds of risks. We never go for volume in logistics at the small biz level, always frequency of minimum orders.
Feel free to forward this by email to three of your friends.
The labor-orchestrated slowdowns come at a critical time in negotiations for a new coast-wide labor contract, and threaten to stem the flow of cargo during the final holiday season push. "Although the existing congestion has had ripple effects throughout the supply chain, it is the ILWU slowdowns that now have the potential to bring the port complex to the brink of gridlock," Gates said. "The ILWU's orchestrated job actions are threatening the West Coast's busiest ports and potentially billions of dollars in commerce. It is essential that the ILWU return to normal operations, as promised, so that we can continue meaningful negotiations in a productive environment free of union-staged slowdowns that are disrupting terminal operations at our largest ports."
But what about the small importer who has foods held up? The small importer ought to have his minimum LCL orders spread out in the supply chain so he can manage these kinds of risks. We never go for volume in logistics at the small biz level, always frequency of minimum orders.
Feel free to forward this by email to three of your friends.
0 comments:
Post a Comment