Dock-talks update: Terminal operators say they’ll close for the weekend

Terminal operators at ports including Seattle say they’ll shut down for the weekend, as the contract-talks stalemate with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union continues. The announcement comes in this statement from the Pacific Maritime Association, which says “weekend vessel loading and unloading operations will be temporarily suspended this weekend, with yard, rail and gate operations continuing at terminal operators’ discretion.” No comment yet from the ILWU, but its president was quoted yesterday as decrying the PMA’s previously voiced “threat” to close ports, made as the terminal operators’ organization went public with its latest contract offer.

Locally, the Port of Seattle’s newest online schedule shows six vessels due on Saturday/Sunday (one of them, NYK Daedalus, is already anchored in Elliott Bay, and another, ZIM Djibouti, is anchored off Manchester).

33 Replies to "Dock-talks update: Terminal operators say they'll close for the weekend"

  • flimflam February 6, 2015 (4:04 pm)

    so these ships will just sit idle in the sound, pumping out exhaust, waste, etc.?

    .
    what a mess.

  • The Truth February 6, 2015 (5:19 pm)

    I drive back into WS on the lower bridge all the time around 10am. I have noticed a lot more trucks backing up out the gate the last few days. This is getting old……

  • westseattledood February 6, 2015 (5:34 pm)

    If you haven’t already done so, drive down West Marginal Way or over the 1st Ave Bridge SB and check out the height on the stored containers stacked on every square foot of the cargo companies properties.

    The ships in Elliott Bay ruined Superbowl Hawkitecture photos. Which isn’t the end of the world, but a few days of $2B/day, or so, of national economic loss might be a little more problematic for some people.

  • dsa February 6, 2015 (5:57 pm)

    Nobody thinks wanting more than 166k/year is greedy?
    Hire somebody willing to work.

  • sarah February 6, 2015 (6:56 pm)

    Don’t throw the workers under the bus – they deserve the same wage increases as their corporate bosses (who make WAY more each year than we could only dream of).

  • alaina February 6, 2015 (7:33 pm)

    Longshore want to work but they are trying to save money. That why they wont let them work this weekend and also the nigh shift. They work there butts off down there and deserve to be treated fair.

  • Joeb February 6, 2015 (7:43 pm)

    I thought terminal 5 was going to be used for truck staging, to keep trucks from idling on the bridge and streets like Marginal Way. Anyone know if that is still in the works or why it was not followed through?

  • MAO February 6, 2015 (8:21 pm)

    Unless you have swung out over a ship in a harness to unhook the containers, or braved the pouring rain or sleet & snow to get the containers to the dock, and then to a tractor trailer, you have no right to comment on the salary of a longshoreman (and there are women who also work there). This is a dangerous job a lot of the time, so should be appropriately compensated. Greed (dsa) is when you make billions and billions a year. Not $166,000 which is barely enough to get by on when it costs $93,000 a year to live comfortably in Seattle and when the $166,000 figure includes benefit and pension costs – or don’t you think people deserve pensions anymore? (i.e. you think retirees should live on welfare?). The Port of Seattle should put pressure on PMA to stop fooling around and get the Port back to work – how dare PMA stop work on a weekend or night when there are ships waiting to be off loaded, The PMA is being infantile. You have the quality of life that you now enjoy thanks to unions like the longshore and teamsters.

  • Rick February 6, 2015 (8:41 pm)

    Bully tactics don’t even register with me.

  • JK February 6, 2015 (9:15 pm)

    MAO, I support unions in general and while I’m not in one I think I make a decent wage for my, admittedly, safe desk job (where I calculate beams and structure of buildings). That said, it seems that longshoremen make over twice what I make. Three times what my wife makes (a medical job with tough ethical decisions every day).

    Just a heads up that you’re about to lose the people on this one if you’re whining about no pensions and only $166,000 a year. IRA’s and HSA’s have become the new normal. It sucks that you were sold on a life back in the day and the rules have changed.

    The rest of us in the private sector have been through the wringer, some of us more than once, and it’s heartbreaking to see the ships idle out in the bay just as the economy is on the way up. Looking out over Harbor Island every day and seeing things backed up on the commute is a reminder to us all that the union, employers, the port, and negotiators are all failing.

    I don’t know the all politics, and frankly I don’t care to get emotionally tied up in it, it’s not my place. I’m sure there are faults on all sides and compromise is inevitable. But my taxes help pay for the Port and I’d like to see the place running at 100%. I support all sides going critical for a short time if it ends this months long stalemate.

  • B February 6, 2015 (10:24 pm)

    They make a lot more than me in my white color, highly technical field, but you won’t catch me doing their job! Nor do I see any advantage for me to support lowering wages; there’s no win in a race to the bottom.

    The rules only changed because workers allowed themselves to lose.

  • sarah February 6, 2015 (10:54 pm)

    Again with it! Don’t you all get it? All whining about what crumbs each other is making when the corporations are taking the pie! Longshoreman deserve every penny and if you think you are not making enough than fight for what you should be making, thank a union member, and fight against the disparity (in this country) between what management makes and what the worker makes. Blaming another worker for what they make is useless and stupid. If you think you should be paid more than tell your boss!!!

  • Gatewood Guy February 7, 2015 (7:28 am)

    Work slowdowns by the union. Virtual lockouts by the companies. Both sides are to blame here and our tax dollars continue to support this broken system. Shut the port down, send it elsewhere, and turn the place into a park. Yeah, I get we lose jobs, but the workers can follow there jobs to wherever they move to. You can bet I’ll vote no on the next port levy.

  • JoB February 7, 2015 (8:02 am)

    i read these comments and i wonder how anyone can think advocating the lowest common denominator in wages and benefits is a good thing for anyone?
    the wages you think are too high are the direct result of unions ..
    and once upon a time in America we all benefitted from their strength

  • Jeff February 7, 2015 (8:22 am)

    Hooray for managers!

    Hooray for corporations!

  • Mike February 7, 2015 (8:27 am)

    Sarah, the problem is that the majority here pay taxes that end up supporting these people and what we see now is a pissing match between the port and union leadership. The beauty of this country (and especially this at-will state) is that you can leave your job at anytime, without any notice to go to a better job. Better pay, better work environment, better benefits, better whatever you want it to be. Nothing stops people from making millions, it’s a matter of how much are they willing to risk and trade off to get it.
    .
    Right now I see my tax dollars being wasted. I won’t agree to boost any of their benefits or pay until I see my money working again. No work, no pay.

    • WSB February 7, 2015 (9:04 am)

      You’re not paying for the ILWU workers. They work for the terminal operators, who are private companies that lease from the Port.

  • Nora February 7, 2015 (9:45 am)

    MAO, it costs $93,000 a year to live comfortably in Seattle? I have a house, a car, plenty to eat, and a little left over on $40,000. That seems pretty comfortable to me. What $53,000 necessity am I depriving myself of?

  • dcn February 7, 2015 (10:33 am)

    @Nora, could it be a family? While not a necessity, it is something a lot of people want. Living off 40K might be very doable as a single person, but supporting a family on 40K in this town would be very difficult, especially when daycare for babies is about 16K/year. Preschoolers cost about 10K.

  • DP February 7, 2015 (12:15 pm)

    My father is in the ILWU in San Diego. From what he tells me about this, the issue isn’t about money. In fact, he says that issue was worked out months ago. A big part of what’s going on is the port authorities’ insistence on outsourcing vessel maintainence.
    Dnc and WSB – thank you for shedding light on those living under rocks.

  • Mike February 7, 2015 (1:59 pm)

    WSB, We don’t pay their salary, we pay to support the infrastructure that is supporting their jobs.

  • Nora February 7, 2015 (2:08 pm)

    Dcn, touche. But if I had a family right now (I’m 23), I would have had either a grossly irresponsible early youth or vastly different priorities. My point is that sweeping statements about cost of living should not be made without naming the demographic to which said statement applies. Say it with context or don’t say it at all.

  • WSince86 February 7, 2015 (2:40 pm)

    WSB I disagree. In essence we ALL are paying for the ILWU workers. While it may be true that they work for private companies who lease from the Port, let’s not kid ourselves into thinking there’s not a trickle down to the end user, the consumer. As my Dad, a lifetime employee in the trucking industry used to say, everything that we consume is brought to us via truck , rail or sea. Most times a combination of all three.

  • WSB February 7, 2015 (3:03 pm)

    I was replying to the inference made above that we, as in taxpayers, vote on their pay. We don’t. Also, the basic port levy is not something that goes to voters for renewal. According to this (interesting reading IMO), they don’t even use all the taxing authority they have.
    .
    http://www.portseattle.org/About/Financial-Info/Budget/Documents/2015/_14_2015_Levy.pdf

  • jeff February 7, 2015 (3:38 pm)

    @WSB

    While we the people are not signing the paychecks for the ILWU members, we are ABSOLUTELY paying their compensation.

    Where do you suppose the money comes from?

    Readers aren’t directly paying to read your blog, but if we don’t support your advertisers….

    Good grief.

  • Frank February 7, 2015 (4:48 pm)

    So apparently nobody realizes that we the longshore workers are also tax payers and consumers. So are we not the same? I also am a home owner in seattle and buy my groceries at the same stores as you do and purchased my vehicles from local car dealership. My job and it’s pay and benefits has allowed me to continue to stimulate this economy at its lowest and highest. All though I work atop the contaminated land filled terminals and move cargo daily with no idea if it’s the possible dirty bomb shipped via terrorists I do so with pride and efficiency knowing that it’s what needs to be done to assure the American people have all things necessary to live. Take the time to walk around your home or place of employment reading where things were made and then ask yourself how it got from there to here? We hope what you hope. That at the end of a shift we can go home safely to our family and friends and each shift worked in our industry the percentage is higher then yours that we won’t go home that day. May we all stick together as American people fighting for each other to protect ourselves from corporate greed and foreign takeover. After all we all belong to the same union These United States

  • Mike February 7, 2015 (5:34 pm)

    Frank, the business my wife works at is losing millions of dollars when people bicker over compensation at the port and decide to slow down work, holding the economy hostage. I don’t feel bad for the small number of tax payers at the port, I care about the millions of people impacted by greed and entitlement.

  • WSince86 February 7, 2015 (5:35 pm)

    Excellent points, Frank. Thanks for supporting your community. Hope my comment above was not misconstrued as not being supportive of your situation. Just stating my opinion that we do indeed need to all stick together in this as we all rely on each other to survive.

  • CandrewB February 7, 2015 (5:48 pm)

    “Unless you have swung out over a ship in a harness to unhook the containers, or braved the pouring rain or sleet & snow to get the containers to the dock, and then to a tractor trailer, you have no right to comment on the salary of a longshoreman”

    Ha! I have no fight in this, but I did much more than the above for about $25,000 per year when I was in college.

  • Mike February 7, 2015 (8:45 pm)

    I honestly give it 10 more years before automation takes over most of these jobs. You might laugh, but Bezos probably already has his eyes on it. Why not, it’s what they do best. DARPA already has tech to do a lot of it now. http://www.darpa.mil/newsevents/releases/2012/06/26.aspx

  • Citizen February 7, 2015 (10:03 pm)

    I don’t blame them for fighting for their pensions. 401k=rationing dollars until you die, getting big chunks of it skimmed off by “financial services” crooks, and probably seeing most of it disappear with a major illness. Sure, the tv commercials make it seem like it’s all about cruises and vineyards, but the grim reality will hit the boomers like a ton of bricks.

    Lest just hope they don’t take social security away from us, we’ll have seniors dying in the streets.

  • sam-c February 8, 2015 (12:44 pm)

    In regards to Mike’s comment, about businesses losing money, I saw this story this morning about Tomboy X. The shutdown seems to be impacting them

    http://www.king5.com/story/news/local/seattle/2015/02/07/ports-shutdown-hurting-businesses-big-and-small/23057769/
    (I don’t know if they are a WS business, but there are a lot of stories about them on WSB, maybe the founders are WS’ers)

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