Li & Fung Logistics isn’t waiting for the worst-case scenario. The logistics division of Hong Kong-based sourcing giant Li & Fung — and other cargo owners like it who ship through the U.S. West Coast — will be watching closely over the next four months as the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and employers engage in tough negotiations on a new labor contract.

With memories of disruption during last year’s negotiations on the East Coast — and of the 10-day lockout that crippled West Coast ports more than a decade ago — still raw, shippers are already looking into routing alternatives that would reduce the risk of getting their goods to destination during the period that is traditionally their busiest shipping season.

Read more...

Donald D. Crosatto, International Association of Machinists District 190, speaking at the JOC’s TPM conference.

LONG BEACH, Calif. — Jurisdictional disputes between dockworkers and other waterfront unions in the U.S. will intensify in the coming years as technology and automation eliminate some traditional jobs, but also create new jobs maintaining and repairing sophisticated new machines, a machinist union executive told the JOC’s TPM conference this week in Long Beach.

Read more...