Ports commit to strengthening harbor complex

Cory Bilicko
Managing Editor

Port leaders and elected officials from Long Beach and Los Angeles were cautiously optimistic on Monday during their visit with United States Labor Secretary Thomas E. Perez, who had returned to the state four months after helping to negotiate a five-year agreement between dock workers and shippers that had ended a months-long dispute between them.
During a press conference Monday morning aboard the USS Iowa, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti introduced Perez by stressing that efforts are being placed on maintaining “two ports, one bay, one vision.”
“It’s great to be back here in Los Angeles with no ships in the background,” Perez said, referring to the huge backlogs of cargo that had clogged the ports up until February.
Perez thanked Garcetti and Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia, who were both present at the news conference, not only for their cooperation on resolving the port backup, but on numerous other issues as well.
“Whether it’s been the community-college work we’ve been doing together, whether it’s your minimum-wage leadership, your investment in ports, your help on trade issues generally, you have been a tremendous partner,” Perez said. “We’re all in this together, and I’m so grateful for you.”
Perez said the resolution of the ports problem in February was indeed a team effort, and he commended Pacific Maritime Association President James McKenna and International Longshore and Warehouse Union President Bob McEllrath for working together to reach the agreement earlier this year.

He also thanked U.S. Rep. Janice Hahn, who founded the Ports Opportunity, Renewal, Trade and Security (PORTS) Caucus in Congress, which Perez called “critically important.”
“I learned personally that the ripple effect from the port situation earlier this year certainly rippled across the country,” Perez said. “It went far beyond the shores of the Pacific, and what we’ve learned is that we’re all in this together. So, I’m really here today to say two things. No. 1 is ‘thank you.’ I was so excited by the overwhelming vote in the ILWU to ratify what I thought was a very fair agreement. So I want to commend the leadership and say ‘thank you.'”
Perez complimented the union leaders and port workers for their quick turnaround of goods after the agreement had been reached.
“But we’re also here to talk about the unfinished business,” Perez noted. “Because we have a tremendous set of opportunities here. Los Angeles and Long Beach are indeed the gateway to, really, the future of trade in America because the middle class— something like 85 percent of the middle class— in 10 years or so is going to be living in Asia, and consumption is what drives the global economy. And, to put it differently, opportunities abound for everybody. Not simply here in Long Beach and in Los Angeles, but up and down the west coast, up and down the east coast, and in between, opportunities abound to get it right. We know and we learn you have remarkable advantages here in Los Angeles and Long Beach.”
Perez explained that the local port complex is in an ideal location but that advantage isn’t enough. He said technology and other assets need to be untilized and that port officials constantly work with the supply chain to maximize opportunity and grow business.
“Last year the United States exported $2.34 trillion worth of goods, which was a nearly 50-percent increase since 2009,” Perez said. “And these exports supported 11.7 million jobs nationwide— 800,000 of which are supported by California exports— and export-supported jobs, as you know, pay on average up to 18 percent more than jobs at non-exporting firms and industries. More than 34,000 companies export goods from the L.A. metro area. And that’s why this stuff matters, because, notwithstanding those large numbers, we have further room for growth.”
Perez stressed the importance of the port complex not taking its location for granted and understanding that efficiency, timeliness, reliability and state-of-the-art technology are essential.
“Time is indeed money in this business,” he said. “And you know that, you live that, and that’s what these efforts are all about, and that’s what this collaboration is all about.”
Perez explained that President Obama is fighting for a long-term transportation bill because the country needs to invest in its infrastructure. He said he also hopes that investment in infrastructure continues to be a bipartisan effort in Southern California and the nation.
After thanking Perez for his “hard work” on the agreement in February, Garcia added to the labor secretary’s port-related statistics by noting that one in every eight jobs in Long Beach one in 12 jobs in L.A. is somehow related to trade-goods movement and that 40 percent of the nation’s cargo pass through the complex.
“So the impact is enormous,” Garcia said. “I’m here today to reaffirm the commitment of Long Beach and the Port of Long Beach as part of this partnership with the Port of Los Angeles and the City of Los Angeles. Jon Slangerup, our chief executive [of the Long Beach Port], as well as myself, have been in constant communication with Mayor Garcetti [and] the teams at both ports to ensure that we’re collaborating on all the things that are important to both ports. The truth is, while we are competitive, we do share the same air, we share the same roads, we share the same rail, we share the same partners, and so, while these are two separate ports, we’re really one part of a larger complex, and that’s the San Pedro Bay Ports Complex.”
Garcia said the two mayors are committed to invest more in capital infrastructure than any port complex in the country, adding that they will continue with projects such as “greening” the terminals and building “incredible” bridges.
Hahn also thanked Perez for his work on February’s contract negotiations, in “keeping both sides at the table,” as well as commending the ILWU and PMA for “agreeing to let him in and seeing what he could do to move those negotiations forward.”
Hahn said that she now has about 100 members, both Republicans and Democrats, in the PORTS caucus she started, including congressmembers who don’t even have a port.
“They understand why ports matter to our nation’s economy, why ports matter to jobs,” she said. “I’ll tell you, during the ports negotiation, so many members from Congress all over our country kept coming up to me every day, wanting information on how the negotitations were going, when we were going to see business as usual, when was that cargo going to keep moving.”
Hahn said that this interest in the port activity was unprecedented but that it showed how every congressional district in the country is affected by what happens in the San Pedro port complex.
“I know we’re still going to have increased competition,” Hahn said. “I know congestion is one of the biggest threats to cargo coming in and out of these ports, and I really appreciate the leadership from Mayor Garcia and Mayor Garcetti in working to move this. We are expecting mega ships to hit this port up to the range of almost 22,000 TEUs. Compare that to, really, in the ’50s, I think there were only like 700 TEUs that were coming in on those ships. So, we have bigger ships, we have more cargo being dumped here, and we really need to work together to move this cargo.”
Hahn then introduced Rep. Alan Lowenthal, who recalled the cooperative spirit among port workers and officials during Feb. 22 press conference aboard the USS Iowa that announced the ILWU-PMA agreement. As Lowenthal had done during that last press conference, he again expressed gratitude to the workers at the ports before speaking about the future of the complex.
“We have to really understand that the real problems in the future will not be coming from the ports of L.A. and Long Beach, because they’re working on the congestion problem,” Lowenthal said. “They’re working on efficiency. The real problem is this nation has not invested in its infrastructure, and we’ve got to get the goods from the port to those distribution centers to the rest of the nation. My colleague Janice Hahn and I, working in a complementary way with different bills, both with the overall goal of moving and making sure this Congress and this nation understand that this economy is dependent on an infrastructure that supports freight. We don’t have the leadership in the world without having that kind of infrastructure.”