Cynthia
L. Guzman and Paul Healey
By Tina Page
On-line Forty-Niner
 Life
continues normally at Cal State Long Beach
despite the closure of all 29 West Coast
commercial shipping ports and the impact
this closure is having on the country’s
economy.
Today marks the eighth consecutive day of
a management lockout of International Longshore
and Warehouse Union dockworkers that has
resulted in the freeze of all sea bound
imports and exports up and down the West
Coast.
 Of
the 29 West Coast ports, the Los Angeles/Long
Beach port is the largest. It is also one
of the world’s busiest seaports. According
to the Long Beach port’s Web site, $95 billion
in trade was generated in 2001. The leading
imports include consumer goods such as toys,
shoes and home electronics.
Consumer goods are not in high demand at
the university level. The supervisor for
shipping and receiving at CSULB, Steven
Wood, said that he doesn’t expect to feel
much of an impact because most of the orders
going out from the school are for books
and medical supplies.
“We haven’t felt it around here at all,”
Wood said. “We’ve been busy as heck.”
Bill Davidson, a former professor of international
business at USC, said that the most significant
immediate effect on the public from the
closed ports will be a lack of consumer
supplies. The hardest hit will be the retailers,
trucking companies, railroad companies and
manufacturers that depend on the ports for
their transfer of goods.
“This is the busiest time of year, with
Christmas just around the corner,” Davidson
said. “The U.S. economy is losing $1 billion
a day. This is not money that can be made
up once the ports are open again because
many companies have been chartering jets
to transfer their goods.”
Although CSULB is not being directly affected
in regards to supplies, the California State
University system could possibly experience
a decreased budget if the economy becomes
severely weakened. Davidson pointed out
that schools come second in line for budget
cuts after prisons.
Pacific Maritime Association, the management
company that is responsible for the lockout,
is attempting to settle the dispute before
such desperate measures are taken by requesting
that the Bush administration get involved.
The PMA represents the shipping companies
that loan out the docks from the city of
Long Beach and other cities along the West
Coast, the PMA Web site said.
President Bush has the power to invoke the
Taft-Hartley Act, which forces union members
to go back to work for 80 days and forces
final negotiations between a union and its
employer to begin again. In 1971, the ILWU
was on strike for 60 days before the Taft-Hartley
Act was invoked, said a 40-year ILWU member
who asked to remain anonymous.
The dispute began on July 1 when the previous
three-year contract had expired. Neither
the ILWU nor the PMA could come to an agreement
on a new contract. The most pressing issue
for both sides is the introduction of new
technology on the docks, an ILWU representative
and the PMA Web site said.
While the PMA is guaranteeing that no existing
union members will lose their jobs due to
new technology, the ILWU is concerned about
unionizing the jobs created by the technology.
The PMA shut down the major ports Sept.
29 and is refusing to open them until a
new contract is signed. The negotiations
will continue in San Fransisco until both
sides agree or the federal government intervenes.
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