Courtesy of Cargo Business Newswire

2-24-2015 CB Newswire

West Coast ports and dockworkers start clearing

backlog
After the Pacific Maritime Association and the International Longshore
and Warehouse Association made a tentative deal Friday on a new 5year contract for West Coast port dockworkers, ports and dockworkers
started tackling the cargo backlog with a vengeance.
Theyve turned the firehose on, said Jon Slangerup, chief executive
officer of the Port of Long Beach, in a telephone interview with
Bloomberg. He said the PMA and the ILWU are committed to digging
out of this as quickly as possible.
At the local ILWU hall in Wilmington, Calif., 1,500 jobs were posted for
Saturdays night shift, up from the usual 800 to 1,000, according to the
ILWU locals president, Mondo Porras.
The parties reached a deal on Friday after nearly nine months of
negotiations. U.S. Labor Secretary Tom Perez turned up the heat on the
talks last week, reportedly telling both sides if they couldnt come to an
agreement by Friday, he would move the talks to Washington D.C., a
venue that would highlight the damage being done to national trade
and the U.S. economy.
Under the compromise Perez brokered, a panel will hear workplace
grievances, instead of a single arbitrator. The two sides had been stuck
on the issue of how arbitration would work after a contract is in place.
The extreme cargo congestion at the West Coast ports, exacerbated by
labor conflict slowdowns and shift cuts, was also the result backups
resulting from the inefficient loading of supersized container ships and
a lack of truck chassis, according to Slangerup.
Ports were bustling with activity over the weekend on the West Coast
with one exceptionthe Port of Oakland. According to the Associated
Press, PMA spokesman Steve Getzug said an arbitrator found that
Oakland longshoremen from ILWU Local 10 took part in illegal work
stoppages that included taking breaks at the same time, among other
actions reducing productivity Sunday. The port reportedly resumed
normal operations Sunday night.

The Pacific Maritime Association will continue to address any future

work stoppages by Local 10 through the grievance and arbitration
process, and, if necessary, in court, the PMA said in a statement.
It will take six to eight weeks for West Coast ports to recover from the
cargo backlog, according to the Port of Oakland and the National Retail
Federation.
For more of the Bloomberg story:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-22/west-coast-portsrevive-as-dockworkers-take-on-two-month-backlog
Port Metro Vancouver truckers call for new commissioner to
resign
Unifor, the union representing container truck drivers at Port Metro
Vancouver, is calling for the resignation of the new container trucking
commissioner due to his alleged close ties to port employers.
Andy Smith is the president of the B.C. Maritime Employer's
Association, which represents and bargains on behalf of employers at
the port. Smith was appointed by the B.C. government as the new
container trucking commissioner earlier this month as someone with
experience who could deliver stability to the sector.
Unifor objects to the appointment, asserting Smith is the wrong choice
because he's president of a group that represents management, which
amounts to a conflict of interest.
You can't be a referee and play on one of the teams, said Unifor
director Gavin McGarrigle. The issues facing truckers are just too
important to have this cloud hanging over it."
Smith will oversee the truck licensing system and set the rate for
drivers working the port.
For more of the CBC story:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/port-metro-containertruckers-demand-new-commissioner-resign-1.2966365
State legislators continue push for bill to reform Port Authority
of NY/NJ
Although the board of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
insist they can clean their own house in the wake of Bridgegate,

legislators in both states are pushing for reform bills to improve

transparency and accountability at the PANYNJ.
PANYNJ commissioners voted to start implementing their own
governance changes, as Democrats in the N.J. senate are working to
override Gov. Christies veto of the reform bill that passed both states
legislatures unanimously last year. That bill would subject the Port
Authority to court-enforceable open-meeting laws and require
commissioners to testify before either legislature, among other
changes.
Governors Christie and Andrew Cuomo issued their vetoes in late
December, saying they wanted the Port Authority to instead follow the
recommendations of a special panel consisting of three of the
commissioners and the governors lawyers.
N.J. Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester) said he would
schedule multiple override attempts despite the fact that Republican
legislators are reluctant to provide enough votes to overturn Christies
veto. In New York the bill has been reintroduced after expiring at the
end of last year.
The full Port Authority board voted last week to accept almost all of the
special panel recommendations, most importantly the switch to a
single CEO.
For more of the NJ Spotlight story:
http://www.njspotlight.com/stories/15/02/19/port-authority-claims-itcan-clean-its-own-house-while-legislators-push-to-pass-reform-bill/
EPA and Customs find illegal engines at L.A./Long Beach
EPA and customs officials said Thursday they will increase inspections
at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach after discovering hundreds
of imported vehicles, engines and other equipment that dont comply
with U.S. emissions standards.
Between June and September of 2014 at the nations largest port
complex, EPA inspectors and U.S. CBP officers found more than 730
foreign-made motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles, gas-powered generators
and other equipment that lacked proper pollution controls required
under the federal Clean Air Act.
EPA officials said the violations were prevalent enough that they will
now hold monthly inspections at the ports.

For more of the L.A. Times story:

http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-customs-engines-20150220story.html
68 dead after Bangladesh ferry collides with cargo ship
At least 68 ferry passengers died in a Bangladesh ferry accident, after
the ferry was hit by a cargo ship and sank Sunday.
Passengers on the double-decker ferry's lower deck may have been
trapped, according to police.
The exact number of the dead is unknown, according to the deputy
commissioner of Manikganj, Rashida Ferdouse.
"Usually the ferry operators don't keep any records, and we came to
know from survivors that there were more than 100 people on board,"
Ferdouse said.
Dozens of accidents happen each year involving Bangladesh ferries,
which are notoriously over crowded and poorly maintained.
For more of the CNN story:
http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/22/asia/bangladesh-ferry-accident/