LOS ANGELES — A dockworker shortage at the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports stretched into its second day on Friday, halting cargo traffic at the massive shipping complex while disrupting the local economy and the global supply chain.
The shortage comes several months into protracted labor negotiations between the union that represents West Coast dockworkers and the industry group representing maritime shippers, which are hashing out a new contract focused, in part, on wages and the role of automation. The old contract expired July 1.
The Pacific Maritime Assn., the industry group representing shippers at the negotiating table, said in a statement Friday that the International Longshore and Warehouse Union had taken a “concerted action to withhold labor.”
