Port systems brace for possible dockworkers strike

New Orleans and Baton Rouge ports are bracing for the possibility of a longshoreman strike. Lake Charles Port Director Richert Self said he heard that an International Longshoreman Association (ILA) meeting is taking place in Lake Charles Wednesday afternoon, but the Lake Charles Port differs significantly from the New Orleans and Baton Rouge ports.

“The issue is primarily container ports,” Self said. “We’re not a container port. We do have ILA here.”

The Port of Lake Charles has five stevedore groups. Three are union, two are nonunion, Self said.

The three union groups hire directly from the ILA.

“We don’t contract directly with them,” Self said. “The stevedores contract with the longshoreman. We can’t force our tenants to use union or nonunion workers.”

The union is asking for higher wages. The Associated Press said the 45,000 dock workers are striking to “thwart the automating of their jobs” and “however the dispute is resolved, it’s likely to affect how freight moves in and out of the United States for years to come.”

U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, the ranking member on the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, urged President Joe Biden to use his powers to intervene to delay a strike and allow more time for talks because of concerns that could rise to the level of COVID-19 pandemic shipping delays.

The Port of New Orleans handles almost all of the state’s container 1 million standard 20-foot container units a year. Baton Rouge moved about 20,500 containers last year.

The first major longshoremen’s strike in more than 40 years could begin as soon as next week.

The American Press contacted the president of the local ILA for more information about the strike, and how it would affect longshoremen in Lake Charles. He said he had no comment.