Global Courant
The U.S. West Coast dockers’ unions say they will not work with container ships that were originally bound for the Port of Vancouver, but which changed course and were diverted to the Port of Seattle. The disruption comes as strikes in Canada’s west coast ports extend to a seventh day.
The International Longshore and Warehouse Union U.S. West Coast chapter said Friday that its members would not work with any of the diverted vessels.
“ILWU will not unload Canadian cargo in solidarity with our Brothers and Sisters in ILWU Canada,” ILWU US West Coast Chapter President Willie Adams said in a statement to CNBC.
According to MarineTraffic, there are currently 16 vessels anchored in Vancouver Harbor and six anchored in Prince Rupert. More container ships are on their way.
There are a total of 15 container ships destined for Vancouver and nine container ships destined for Prince Rupert. These would be vessels which, if diverted, would not be served by the ILWU because the containers are easy to identify.
It would be very difficult for the ILWU to identify containers whose final destination has been changed, as they cannot access container information for security reasons.
The diversions are the first of what could be a widespread diversion of ships, delays to scheduled arrivals and tension in supply chains at the start of the peak season as holiday and back-to-school items arrive.
Redirecting containers also adds days to product delivery. For the automotive industry operating on lean just in time schedules, these delays can affect production.
“This is the biggest disruption we have seen since the pandemic and comes at a time when the supply chain was stabilizing,” Goetz Alebrand, head of ocean freight Americas for DHL Global Forwarding, told CNBC.
The strike in Canada’s west coast ports has previously been supported by both the ILWU West Coast US Chapter and the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA).
The ILA, North America’s largest union of maritime workers, representing workers in ports on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, the Great Lakes, major American rivers, Puerto Rico and eastern Canada, also said in a statement that no diverted cargo from the attack on ports would be accepted.
The first of the diverted container ships is expected to enter the Port of Seattle on July 10, according to port authorities.
The disruptions follow a breakdown in labor negotiations. Both the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association and the ILWU Canada chapter walked away from talks earlier this week, blaming each other for the breakdown of the talks.
Diverted ships
Two container ships that were diverted were identified as the MSC Sara Elena and the OOCL San Francisco. VesselsValue has also identified the MSC Matilde V anchored off Vancouver and pulled up anchor and departed with the cargo towards Vancouver and headed back to Quigdao, China.
OL USA told CNBC that all of its future freight that normally goes to Vancouver will be diverted to Seattle, Tacoma, Los Angeles, Long Beach and the East Coast.
The strike could lead to congestion in Canada’s ports with dockers unable to unload ships. Congestion can lead to backlogs and lead to delayed pick-ups from terminals, which can then lead to late fees that are often passed on to consumers – similar to what happened during the pandemic.
The Canadian National Railway Company, which serves the ports, told CNBC it will take weeks to months to clear the congestion.
The Port of Vancouver and the Port of Prince Rupert are popular destinations for US trade because these ports are among the main ports of call for goods coming from Asia. Some logistics managers have told CNBC that train service from those ports is a lot faster than through the Port of Seattle or Tacoma.
The distance between the Port of Vancouver and the Port of Seattle is just over half a day’s journey at normal speeds.
ITS Logistics told CNBC it has containers at the OOCL San Francisco. They were due to arrive in Vancouver harbor on July 3 and were then bound for Memphis by rail. Paul Brashier, vice president of dragage and intermodal at ITS Logistics, said customers are now looking for alternative US ports.
“At this time, we are advising all customers with cargo booked to Vancouver or Prince Rupert to work with their booking agents to track the U.S. ports of call of the ships carrying their containers and see if the ocean liners allow reshipment ( container final destination) to a US port,” Brashier said.
Many ITS customers have requested a container destination change and are waiting to see if the shipping carriers will accept that change. The maritime carriers are the final arbiter of any change of container destination. You can usually change the destination of a container five days before a ship docks.
Canadian ports normally handle goods destined for the United States, ranging from automotive and manufacturing parts to footwear and apparel. Trade associations, including the American Apparel and Footwear Association and the National Retail Federation, told CNBC they are urging the Canadian government to keep parties at the negotiating table.
The calls are still interrupted
ILWU Canada has one damning statement Thursday, accusing the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association of a smear campaign and demanding to return to the conciliation table.
“The reality is that our people are working hard under difficult, often dangerous conditions, and they have helped the Canadian economy through the worst of the pandemic,” said Rob Ashton, president of ILWU Canada. “That’s a far cry from the image the employer wants to paint. It can be a good living, but it takes years of sacrifice to get there, and it’s still hard work.”
Ashton listed several points in support of the union’s position, including sporadic earnings for waterside workers due to call systems; inconsistent hours as many employees are posted daily; and high injury rates, including several deaths recorded in recent years.
The president of ILWU Canada also said higher wages often require night shifts, six or seven days a week.
“Our members’ families are facing rising food bills, housing costs and interest rates. All we ask of employers is to share a portion of the wealth our labor creates for them through a fair, reasonable wage increase, and to ensure our members can continue to do that work with respect and dignity,” said Ashton.
BCMEA said in a statement to CNBC on Thursday that negotiations are still on hold.
“We remain ready to return to the table at any time, assuming ILWU Canada is willing to make a reasonable proposal, particularly to their request to aggressively expand ILWU’s jurisdiction over terminal maintenance work,” the statement said. group.
Canadian Labor Minister Seamus O’Regan Jr., who has urged both sides to come back to the table to negotiate, talked to Acting U.S. Secretary of Labor Julie Su spoke Thursday night about the strike’s impact on the North American supply chain.
With Canada’s parliament out of session, the governing body should recall members to intervene. Even in remote voting, any measure must meet a quorum for in-person voting.
