Port Group May Cut Out Early Shift

By Art Marroquin, Press-Telegram, Long Beach, Calif.

Oct. 29–The Pacific Maritime Association is expected to ask that the early-morning “hoot” shift be eliminated at West Coast ports as one of several key changes during contract negotiations with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union.

Replacing the current three-shift work day with two 10-hour shifts would better accommodate anticipated growth at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, according to Jim McKenna, president of the PMA.

“We need to find ways to get more volume through those terminals,” McKenna said. “There are a lot of things we can do to make that happen.

Shift changes are one way, but not the only way.”

McKenna’s suggestion comes as the PMA and ILWU prepare to negotiate a new labor contract for longshore workers. The current six-year contract is set to expire next year.

Both sides said they hope to avert a repeat of the bitter 2002 labor dispute that eventually led to a 10-day lockout and shutdown of the ports, costing the national economy $58 billion. President Bush intervened by reopening the ports with a Taft-Hartley injunction.

Craig Merrilees, communications director for the ILWU, declined to comment on the PMA’s shift change proposal.

“There is always a lot of speculation before bargaining begins, but the only thing that matters is what’s negotiated when it’s all over,” Merrilees said. “I expect we’ll hear all sorts of proposals between now and the time folks sit down.”

The 3 to 8 a.m. hoot shift is seen as a critical component in quickly moving cargo to and from the twin port complex because truckers at that time don’t get stuck in traffic on the Long Beach (710) Freeway.

Critics of the hoot shift, however, say the related labor costs are a big drawback. ILWU workers get paid the equivalent of eight hours at nearly $30 per hour to work the five-hour early-morning hoot shift.

But McKenna said he’s more concerned about port efficiencies than saving money.

“It’s about finding a way for the terminals to become more efficient, not labor costs,” McKenna said.

The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach handled a combined total of nearly 15.8 million cargo containers last year.

That number is expected to nearly double over the next decade, and shippers must find a way to handle the increased load, McKenna said.

“If those projections are correct, then we have to do something fundamentally different to handle it,” McKenna said. “Otherwise the cargo will be directed to other ports and we’ll lose out.”

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