Audio: USMEF Chair Comments on West Coast Port Impasse

The White House announced Feb. 14 that U.S. Secretary of Labor Tom Perez is being sent to California to try to bring West Coast port labor contract negotiations to a close. Contract talks between the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) began nine months ago, and turned contentious in early November when congestion worsened in several major ports.

The situation has deteriorated even further in recent weeks. Vessel loading and unloading operations were suspended the past two weekends, with PMA stating that its members cannot afford to pay longshore workers weekend and holiday premiums for “severely diminished productivity.”

USMEF Chair Leann Saunders says port congestion is causing major problems for U.S. meat exporters who rely on West Coast port operations to serve key Asian markets. She says a valuable global customer base that has taken the U.S. meat industry decades to build is being place in jeopardy by the port labor impasse.

Saunders notes that the situation is especially serious for exporters of chilled beef and pork, due to the limited shelf life of these high-value products. Last year the United States shipped about $2 billion in chilled beef and pork to Asian markets – mainly to Japan and South Korea, but also to destinations such as Taiwan and Hong Kong. Asian buyers are becoming increasingly reluctant to place orders for chilled meat, due to the uncertainty of how promptly it will exit the congested West Coast ports.



TRANSCRIPT:

Joe Schuele: In this U.S. Meat Export Federation report, we look at the ongoing congestion in the West Coast Ports and its impact on meat exporters. The White House is sending Labor Secretary Tom Perez to California to try and bring contract labor negotiations to a close. Contract talks began 9 months ago and turned contentious in early November when congestion worsened in several major ports. The situation has deteriorated even further in recent weeks. Vessel loading and unloading operations were suspended the last two weekends because port operators say they cannot afford to pay longshore workers weekend and holiday premiums for severely diminished productivity. USMEF Chair Leann Saunders welcomed the White House announcement and said the contract negotiations must be brought to a close soon.

Leann Saunders: Yes, I think it’s reached the stage of actually being a crisis. We’re hearing from a lot of members and when you think about all of the product that we’re exporting that goes out of the west coast, and those specific ports – you’ve got 80 percent of your waterborne product that is going out. And that equates to about $150 million per week approximately. And you know if you think about it historically, it’s taken us years to build up the business that we have in those Asian markets. And if we don’t get that port opened up quickly, all of that could be in jeopardy. It is a very serious situation for U.S. meat exporters.

Joe Schuele:The impasse is especially concerning for exporters of chilled beef and pork because of the limited shelf life of these products. Delays have caused Asian buyers to be increasingly reluctant to place orders for chilled product.

Leann Saunders: If you think about all of that product being held up there on the port, and that’s high value chilled product going into those Asian markets. It is all at risk. And you just have a short period of time until you have millions of dollars of product that’s lost and all of those Asian customers wanting that product to come in and needing a ratable supply. So it is a very critical situation for us.

Joe Schuele: For more on this and other trade issues, please visit USMEF.org. For the U.S. Meat Export Federation, I’m Joe Schuele.