Belmont Beacon
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2015 - FEBRUARY 22, 2015
belmontbeacon.com
Shipping Corporations Go “On Strike” Against Workers in Light of Self-Created Conditions by nick kipley The Port of Long Beach and Los Angeles shut down this past weekend because the Pacific Maritime Association claimed that there was no room to put the containers from a flood of ship traffic currently anchored off the coast. The PMA also claimed there were not enough qualified dock crane operators to move freight for stacking within the port. The shutdown cost an estimated one-billion dollars a day this weekend, and occurred because of port conditions; ships weren’t being unloaded fast enough. Renegotiations of the longshoremen and warehouse worker’s contract is in the works this week, so when PMA claims that dockworkers want a raise in their “$1,200 a day” salary, it’s difficult not to feel like the dockworkers are being a bit lazy. The only problem with this narrative is that the PMA is an association whose strongest members are comprised of seven of the largest European and East Asian shipping corporations in the world. They are not
Landmark “Green Port Policy” Turns 10 Port of Long Beach Reaffirms Commitment to Environment
dockworkers. The PMA are the ones responsible for clogging the Port of L.A./L.B.C. with their own ships, while simultaneously complaining that there are too many ships in the port. The shutdown this week-
end occurred when the PMA ceased to pay the International Longshoreman and Warehouse Union for their labor, which the PMA claims has been declining
wood, CA 90712. The HAT Committee (Hearing Assistive Technology) through Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA) Long Beach/Lakewood Chapter provides this free event every third Friday of the month. A representative from CaptionCall will be on hand to offer
information on phones with captioning. Sam Moghadam, Hearing Instrument Specialist from Ascent Hearing Center, will also be present to assist with hearing aids. HAT does not sell hearing aids or Hearing Assistive Devices, but pro-
The Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners on Monday celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Port of Long Beach’s historic Green Port Policy by honoring its originators and reaffirming their commitment to environmental sustainability. Thanks to the many the Policy’s many successes, air quality and water quality have dramatically improved and the Port of Long Beach has become a recognized leader in environmental stewardship among seaports around the world. In unanimously adopting a resolution Monday to reaffirm the Port’s commitment to the Green Port Policy, today’s Commissioners said they were determined to broaden its promise. “Protecting the environment is one of the great challenges of the 21st century, and the biggest success of our Green Port Policy is yet to come as we see our programs being adopted at ports around the world -- and our industry free of emissions and completely sustainable,” said Harbor Commission President Doug Drummond. On Monday evening, the current Harbor Commission also honored six former com-
Please see page 3
Please see page 4
Port of Long Beach Chief Executive Jon Slangerup
– Courtesy photo
Please see page 2
Free “Hands-On” Hearing Assistive Technology Demonstration Unique to Southern California
Do you have trouble hearing on the phone and have trouble hearing conversations in restaurants? Can’t hear the doorbell ring? New technologies are available for you to try “hands on” Friday, Feb. 20 from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at the Weingart Senior Center, 5220 Oliva Avenue, Lake-
VOLUME 2, NO. 7
2 | FEBRUARY 16, 2015 - FEBRUARY 22, 2015
Shipping Corporations Go On Strike Continued from page 1 in efficiency. And, again, this isn’t because the dockworkers went on strike: the largest port in the United States ground to a halt this weekend because, in the long run, it might allow the shipping corporations who use the port to turn a bigger profit. The port of L.A./L.B.C. is a major economic engine generating an alleged 17% of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product alone. A shutdown effects all the businesses in the San Gabriel Valley who import or export overseas. Also, when a shutdown or backlog ends, the San Gabriel Valley’s three major North/South freeways—the 605, the 710, and the 110—get overloaded with truck traffic. International Longshore and Warehouse Union’s Director of Communications, Craig Merrilees, claims that in the past months the buildup of containers in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach that led to the shutdown has occurred due to a number of factors. Many of these factors are due to how the nature of shipping itself is changing. “Back in 2010 the biggest ship [could carry] a ‘monstrous’ 10,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs, or, the actual “containers” you see stacked up on a shipping container). Hyundai is in the works right now to build a 19,000 TEU ship.” Merrilees explains that with bigger ships, three things occur for dockworkers. First and foremost, bigger ships mean that
there is obviously going to be a higher concentration of containers from these ships, and that those containers have the potential to physically clog the port. Secondly, carrier groups using these huge new ships seek to optimize the amount of containers they are capable of carrying by forming between alliances to maximize profitability. “Just like airlines,” Merilees says, “So now when a ship arrives from Asia it may be carrying containers from several different carriers and those containers have to be sorted.” Which leads to the third problem, the one that Merrilees claims is a predominate factor in the recent work slowdown. “Those containers are dependent upon a steel-frame truck chassis unless it’s going on the rail,” he says, “And those truck chassis are not interchangeable between container companies. So if you have a shortage of truck chassis, the containers have to sit and wait.” Already in the works, four major chassis companies in the port are doing what the carrier groups have been doing. By pooling their resources they hope that in forming a “grey” chassis pool they can help alleviate some of the congestion, but the pool won’t be ready until March. Also, in order to move these containers around the backlogged ports, you need a special piece of equipment called a yard crane, or T-crane. Yard cranes
are not the large quayside or gantry cranes a person pictures when conceptualizing the term “industrial port.” T-cranes are specialized pieces of equipment that work like a forklift, but instead of lifting the containers from the bottom they grip them from the top. The PMA alleges that ILWU is not providing enough experienced and safetycertified yard crane operators. To counter this the ILWU claims that the only reason this is occurring is that, due to the backlog occurring because of the reasons listed above, the PMA has been demanding that workers with very little training and experience to operate the huge pieces of heavy machinery in order to clear out the congestion. Merrilees says that “As the congestion crisis got worse and worse and the company started putting more and more people in the driver’s seat up until the point that they were putting people in these cranes with zero training. And that’s when the ILWU put their foot down.” ILWU is adamant that if a worker wants to operate a yard crane, they need to go through a rigorous training scheme. An accident involving what is essentially a giant forklift carrying a twenty-foot shipping container could easily be fatal. In addition, the port slowdown has also been attributed to a number of other factors that add to the amount of time it takes for the whole import/ export process. The gate hours for the port itself need to be extended, mandatory safety checks and double checks need to become more efficient, and night and evening shifts need to be reinstated by the PMA. For reasons that are the definition of counterintuitive: because of the recent work slowdown in the weeks leading up to the full shutdown, the PMA cancelled night shifts in the Ports of L.A. and L.B.C. back in January. What is interesting now is that the PMA has forced the ILWU into a position where it the public has been led to believe that some sort of leaderless, wildcat strike is occurring;
or that the port shut down due to an essential laziness that comes from being an overpaid union worker. According to a graph posted on the PMA’s website, a longshoreman for the ILWU working 2,000 a year makes a staggering $137,000 annually. The PMA also claims that they pay out nearly two-billion dollars in wages each year. Or, roughly, the amount of money they lost by closing the port for two days. The PMA is now seeking to bring in a federal regulator to mediate talks with the ILWU. In essence the shipping magnates created a problem and now are complaining about it to the government as though the problem is not something they have any control over; leading to a confusing situation that has led to some especially arrogant commentary that smacks of Keynesian recklessness. An editorial that comes up at the top of Google when searching the incorrect term, “Port Strike,” brings up an article by Forbes titled, “West Coast Port Strike; Do What Ronald Reagan Did To The Air Traffic Controllers.” Not only is this sort of rhetoric misleading, but it is damaging to labor unions everywhere. Democratic Congresswoman Janice Hahn of California’s 44th district representing the Port of Los Angeles said it best via Facebook, “Reducing the hours of port workers is not the way to clear the backlog from our ports. Instead of working with the ILWU to create jobs and move commerce – the rumored actions by the PMA will cut jobs in California and have a negative ripple effect on the entire U.S. economy.” So what’s the benefit of getting the public against unions in this case? The shipping terminal TraPac is the first to automate their operations using GPS guided cranes and computerization. That means no ILWU worker is needed to unload the containers from the ships. The ILWU has contested that the cranes must be manned in compliance with Union rules, and nevertheless productivity in the TraPac
Please see page 4
FEBRUARY 16, 2015 - FEBRUARY 22, 2015 | 3
hlr media EDITORIAL editor@belmontbeacon.com Editor Jennifer Schlueter Publisher HLR Media Advertising advertising@hlrmedia.com Submissions:
Please send all press releases to: editor@belmontbeacon.com HLR Media, LLC .All contents herein are copyrighted and may not be reproduced in any manner, either in whole or in part, without the express written consent of the publisher. The views and opinions expressed in this paper are not necessarily that of the management and staff at HLR Media, LLC 525 E Seaside Way, Suite 101B Long Beach 90802
Phone: (626) 386-3457 Fax: (626) 600-4452
Alhambra PRESS ANAHEIM PRESS
Baldwin Park
Belmont Beacon INDEPENDENT
Cypress Press INDEPENDENT
Pasadena Press
San Bernardino Press
City of L.A. Takes Action to Curb Epidemic of Hit-and-Run On Two Year Anniversary of Gruesome Hit-and-Run Feb. 17th, 2013, is a day Damian Kevitt will never forget. That was the day he was hit while riding his bicycle with his wife in Griffith Park and then dragged underneath the car onto the 5 Freeway, nearly a quarter mile. While he survived that gruesome hit and run his life was permanently changed in more ways than he could have possibly imagined – left with scars covering much of his body and his right leg amputated, Damian Kevitt launched an organization called Finish the Ride to help end the epidemic of hit and run crimes in Southern California and make the streets safer for most vulnerable of road users – pedestrians and bicyclists. With over 7500 people sent to the hospital or killed in LA County each year (that’s more than one an hour) and 48% of all collisions in LA are hit and runs (compared to 11% as the national average) LA is arguably the hit and run capital of the US. What’s worse is that hit and run mostly affect pedestrians – usually the young, elderly or disabled. Kevitt’s first action was to organize a massive bicycle ride tracing the route Damian took
Hearing Assist “Hands-On” Demo Continued from page 1
vides information on where to purchase items demonstrated. The HAT Demo is the only free “hands-on” opportunity available in Southern California. For information, please call (562) 630-6141 or visit www. hlalongbeachlakewood.org.
that fateful day. Called Finish the Ride, the event was not only a message of triumph over tragedy but part of a well-planned campaign to raise awareness of hit and run crimes. With Congressman Adam Schiff, CA State Assemblyman Mike Gatto, LA City Councilman Tom LaBonge, City Councilman Mitch O’Farrell and 700 other cyclists joining him Finish the Ride was a massive success! Kevitt and his team with Finish the Ride didn’t stop there. It continued it work for street safety by supporting state-wide hit and run legisla-
tion, working with LAPD, LA DOT and a host of other local community based organizations like LA County Bicycle Coalition and LA Walks. Unfortunately, Governor Brown vetoed all four bills passed by the CA legislature in 2014 to tackle the issue – including a bill to implement a state-wide “Yellow Alert” to help catch hit and run criminals. But with more than a dozen children being killed or seriously injured in hit and run accidents in California the Please see page 4
Long Beach Office 3780 Kilroy Airport Way Suite 360 Long Beach, CA 90806 Ph. (562) 472-0071 Fx. (562) 689-0071 Los Angeles Office 5701 South Eastern Avenue Suite 100 Los Angeles, CA 90040 Ph. (323) 727-1144 Fx. (323) 727-9198 www.heger-industrial.com Lic. #00814086
4 | FEBRUARY 16, 2015 - FEBRUARY 22, 2015
Landmark “Green Port Policy” Turns 10 Continued from page 1
missioners for their roles in initiating and setting in motion the Green Port Policy in 2005. Former Commissioners Mario Cordero, James C. Hankla, John Calhoun, Doris TopsyElvord, John Hancock, and Dr. Mike Walter received proclamations thanking them for their work. Adopted on Jan. 31, 2005, the Green Port Policy is a groundbreaking, aggressive pledge to protect air, water, community and wildlife, and to consider the environment in all of its day-to-day activities. Significantly, the Port committed that new development would be “green growth” and would work to improve the environment as much as bring trade to the region. Read about the Green Port Policy: At the Port of Long Beach, the world’s greenest terminal is under construction, pioneering anti-pollution measures have led to dramatic clean air gains, and thriving sea life coexists with one of the busiest container ports in the world. The air has 82 percent less diesel emis-
L.A. Prepares to Fight Hit and Run Continued from page 3
sions from Port sources, Port officials routinely engage with the public, clean trucks visit the terminals and the world’s only hybrid tugboats roam the harbor. As the Port moves towards more zero-emission technology the reliance on electricity is increasing. Chief Executive Jon Slangerup’s “Energy Island” program will explore options to bring sustainable power technologies into the Port, satisfy its own electricity needs and to serve as a resource to the community in emergencies. The Port of Long Beach is one of the world’s premier seaports, a leading gateway for trans-Pacific trade and a trailblazer in innovative goods movement, safety and environmental stewardship. The Port handles cargo valued at $180 billion each year, supporting 1.4 million jobs in the United States. In 2014, Long Beach was named the world’s “Best Green Seaport” by its customers in Asia in recognition of the Port’s industry-leading environmental sustainability projects.
last three months of the year -- including three teenage girls killed in Santa Ana while trickor-treating, a 7-year old killed in San Bernardino, and an 11year old killed as he walked to school in Upland – Finish the Ride has re-doubled its efforts and called 2015 to be the Year of Action! Already, in this year of action, CA Assemblyman Mike Gatto re-introduced legislation to implement a state-wide Yellow Alert system. Now the LA City Council is proposing its own city wide hit and run alert system as well as standing reward money to catch hit and run criminals. On top of that Finish the Ride will be back this year on Sunday, April 19th with not just bicyclists but walkers, runners, challenged athletes, skate boarders, etc. all in the name of safer streets. This year it’s aptly called Finish the Ride, Run, Walk N Roll. Thousands are expected to attend – once again tracing the route Kevitt took in Feb 2013 – starting in the parking lot at the Church of Scientology near Sunset and
Vermont with celebrity, city and state representatives kicking it off. It ends in grand style with an Expo at The Autry Museum in Griffith Park. “Hit and runs are an indicator of moral decay in civilization,” said Kevitt. “If fact it’s the antithesis of civilization. By coming together – community, city and state – to raise awareness through events like Finish the Ride, Run Walk N Roll, we hope to demonstrate the idea of safe streets to live and travel on are not just a desire but a necessity.”
Shipping Corporations Go on Strike Continued from page 2 dock is “way down,” according to one report. By getting the public against unions it will be easier for big agglomerates like the PMA to lobby for legislature potentially allowing for unionbusting automation, which will make the PMA richer by eliminating skilled jobs. But the ILWU are a strong union. As it says in point VII of
the ILWU’s Ten Guiding Principles, ratified way back in 1953: “Just as water flows down to its lowers level, so do wages if the bulk of the workers are left unorganized. To organize the unorganized must be a cardinal principle of any union worth its salt.” And hopefully talks between the PMA and the ILWU remain just as strongly organized.