City News Service ,Long Beach Post
Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka called the tentative rail labor agreement reached today “great news” that would avert significant disruption to the U.S. economy, but noted that challenges remain at the port and nationwide with rail shipments.
A disruption to rail service during the peak shipping season would have been disastrous to the nation’s supply chain, Mario Cordero, executive director of the Port of Long Beach, said in a statement.
“The Port of Long Beach welcomes the stability this contract agreement provides during a time when the prompt, reliable delivery of goods has become a consumer expectation,” Cordero said.
President Joe Biden announced the tentative deal Thursday morning, averting a potential strike that would have affected train commuters and supply chains throughout Southern California and the nation.
Metrolink and Amtrak were bracing for potential large-scale disruptions in service because of the possible strike, which had been set to begin at midnight Friday. As of Thursday, Metrolink services will operate as scheduled, and Amtrak was working to restore services it previously canceled in anticipation of the work stoppage.
In a statement released Thursday, Biden said the agreement is “an important win for our economy and the American people. It is a win for tens of thousands of rail workers who worked tirelessly through the pandemic to ensure that America’s families and communities got deliveries of what have kept us going during these difficult years.”
Despite the averted strike, Seroka said backlogs and bottlenecks remain on the national freight network. There are six times as many boxes moving via rail at the Port of Los Angeles now compared to February. Rail cargo is waiting more than seven days on average to ship, nearly four times longer than in February.
There are 28,000 containers waiting for trains, well above the 9,000 units that Seroka would like to see. Of those containers, 16,000 are waiting longer than nine days.
“Under normal conditions, that number should be zero,” Seroka said. “So there’s still much more work for all of us to do.”
Seroka said cargo owners need to pick up their boxes faster.
“With that, we can load cargo into these trains and get them out of Southern California much quicker,” Seroka said.
Several unions representing tens of thousands of rail workers had been at an impasse with railroad companies, seeking more predictable schedules and work conditions. Of the 12 unions, nine had agreed to tentative deals as of Wednesday while the others remained at the bargaining table.
Metrolink and Amtrak were not directly involved in the negotiations, but a strike would have had an impact on service.
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