Opinion

Keep the Oakland port running with a federal mediator

At the SSA Terminals, trucks begin to line up under hundreds of containers on Dec. 17. Truck drivers at the Port of Oakland often face long waits to get inside the terminals and pick up containers. At the SSA Terminals, trucks begin to line up under hundreds of containers on Dec. 17. Truck drivers at the Port of Oakland often face long waits to get inside the terminals and pick up containers. Photo: Brant Ward / The Chronicle Photo: Brant Ward / The Chronicle Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Keep the Oakland port running with a federal mediator 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

The Port of Oakland is crucial to the Bay Area’s economy and the business of the entire Pacific region — it’s the fifth-busiest container port in the United States and the primary export gateway for California’s agricultural products.

This fall, the port experienced a big jump in business as congestion in Los Angeles and Long Beach made Oakland an attractive alternative for shippers — but it’s unlikely to last unless the port can resolve a long-running labor contract dispute, which is why the Pacific Maritime Association has asked for a federal mediator.

We agree that it’s time for an outside negotiator to step in.

Federal mediation isn’t something to be taken lightly. Outside intervention in labor negotiations can breed resentment and cause both sides to harden their positions.

But the fact that this dispute has dragged on for seven months, and the outstanding issues appear to be complex, suggests that the parties involved are going to need all of the help that they can get.

This isn’t a problem just for Oakland. There are 29 ports between Seattle and San Diego where some 20,000 dockworkers have been working without a contract since July. There are millions of other jobs that depend on operational ports for their existence, which means that it’s in the interest of the entire West Coast for this contract to be concluded.

Like everything else in our global economy, those jobs are fragile. The East Coast has its own ports, and they’re all eager to siphon business from this side of the country. (Some of those ports, like Savannah, Ga., already have started pulling traffic away from Southern California.)

The Panama Canal expansion also has created a need for the West Coast ports to work harder at attracting and maintaining shipper business. Cargo shippers are only interested in getting their goods in and out as quickly and reliably as possible.

The West Coast ports can’t afford a long, brutal labor dispute.

Unfortunately, work actions up and down the West Coast have already led to delays, problems and lost business that we might not be able to get back.

Ann Inc., which owns the Ann Taylor and Loft stores, recently blamed poor fourth-quarter sales on delayed shipments from the West Coast. McDonald’s in Japan began restricting french-fry sales to customers this month in an emergency measure, as delayed imports caused shortages for restaurants. More than a dozen carriers have announced port congestion surcharges on cargo moving through West Coast ports, and some shippers have even said they will eliminate our ports from some of their calls due to unreliable scheduling.

This has to stop.

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union has to agree to federal mediation, and it has yet to do so. It needs to agree.

A new contract requires compromise, but it also helps workers keep their jobs. And a good federal mediator could help find solutions to ease congestion, which is one of the major contested issues and a problem that predates the contract dispute (particularly in Southern California).

Congestion is a safety issue for workers, a headache for the ports, and a complicated problem on which the parties have not been able to come to agreement. A federal mediator could help, and that’s a possibility that could have lasting positive effects for years to come.