OAKLAND: One of five international terminals at the Port of Oakland was shut down by a staffing dispute Wednesday, just weeks after a new labor agreement ended months of labor strife that slowed shipments along the west coast, a port spokesman said.
The disagreement between labor and management over staffing levels stopped the port’s international container terminal yard and gate operations during the lunch hour.
According to port spokesman Mike Zampa, no vessels were scheduled to berth at that terminal Tuesday and operations at the other international terminals were not disrupted.
The international terminal that was shut down Tuesday is expected to resume normal operations Wednesday, Zampa added.
The Port of Oakland was one of 29 West Coast ports affected by slowdown and work stoppages related to contract negotiations between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association, the management group representing shippers.
The lengthy talks, which lasted 9 months, left workers without a contract after July 1, 2014 and resulted in numerous shutdowns at the Port of Oakland. Those shutdowns, Zampa said, led to a huge backlog of cargo and ships waiting to be unloaded; in mid-February, days before a deal was reached, as many as 20 ships were anchoring in and around the San Francisco Bay while they waited for a dock space at the port.
