Union workers are skipping shifts closing the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles

Maersk issued a customer announcement reporting that two or three of its ships in the Port of Los Angeles could be immediately affected. They wrote: “No surgeries were performed on the night shift. Every terminal in the port has canceled all ship, dockyard, rail and gate operations for the night shift with the uncertainty of not knowing if they can resume for the 1st shift on Friday.”

A PMA spokesman told Bloomberg that ILWU Local 13 was again holding back workers for the Friday morning shift. Some workers had come to the terminal last night for their assigned shifts, but because there were not enough staff, the terminals were forced to turn them away and halt work.

In the client briefing, Maersk noted that Thursday was “the final day of the ILWU Local 13 President’s term. The new President was sworn in and has taken up his term of office.” It is unclear whether the action has anything to do with the change in leadership at the union headquarters or the religious holiday Good Friday. Today should be a normal working day for the ports, although Sunday April 9th, Easter Sunday, is a day off due to the religious holiday.

The Marine Exchange of Southern California, which manages shipping traffic for the ports, said Friday noon that a container ship failed to enter the port as planned and was loitering to the west because the captain chose not to drop anchor. They are advising other incoming ships to work with their destination terminals to determine if there is a reasonable expectation that they can go to a berth in the next three days. The Port of Los Angeles control tower signal report indicates 10 ships are in dock. They show three container ships scheduled to arrive in port today, two more on April 9th ​​and a sixth ship on April 11th.

The union issued a statement late Friday saying that “several thousand union members attend the monthly meeting” held on Thursday evening. In addition, they said on Friday that workers celebrating the religious holiday took time to be with their families. “Longshore workers in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach (ports) are still hard at work and remain committed to moving the nation’s cargo,” the ILWU Local 13 said, while the PMA claimed that Workers not showing up for their shifts are the result of a “coordinated action”.

The PMA and union have been in contract talks since the previous contract expired on July 1, 2022, with both sides largely silent on the status of the talks. Their last communication was in February 2023 that they were hopeful and that both sides remain committed to the solution of the contract. Port officials have repeatedly said that the uncertainty and potential for disruption are affecting operations in both ports as carriers and shippers are actively diverting to ports on the U.S. Gulf Coast and East Coast as alternatives. They urged both sides to quickly resolve the port health issues.

Last month, the Wall Street Journal reported that union members in the ports had begun quietly refusing to reschedule their lunch breaks. Each shift is given a break, which, according to the contract, must be staggered so that enough staff remain on duty to continue operations. Work was reportedly forced to stop causing backlogs as dockers stopped handing out their breaks. The PMA acknowledged the issue and told reporters that they could not arbitrate as they are currently without a contract.

Maersk told customers it was seeking “more clarity on the disruption and duration.” In its statement, the PMA acknowledged the disruption and the problem of staggering during meal times. They wrote: “These measures are eroding confidence in West Coast ports and threaten to further speed up the diversion of discretionary cargo.” There was no indication as to whether the workers might remain out of work or what measures are currently being taken to address the fix disruption.