Obama Sends Labor Secretary To Calif. To Settle West Coast Ports Dispute
LONG BEACH (CBSLA.com) — President Obama is set to send United States Labor Secretary Tom Perez to California in an attempt to address the slowdown of ports on the West Coast.
Cargo ships in Long Beach are stacked as flow into and out of the port has reached a point of impaction, due to labor disputes. It is estimated that the national economy could take a $2 billion hit per day if the dispute becomes a full-blown strike.
However, not everyone agrees with the prediction.
"That's total nonsense, to be candid," economist Christopher Thornberg declared. "It isn't to say that there aren't some individuals, some companies, that are being hurt by this."
As goods remain on ships, and not on store shelves, Thornberg says it is realistic to expect store prices to increase, while store choices for goods decrease. Meanwhile, he maintains that the dispute shouldn't effect the economy itself much at all.
Importers and exporters dealing with perishable items, including fruit and fish, are worried, while the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association wage war over a new contract, after their previous one expired in July.
"There's a lot of money to be made moving stuff in and out of the ports, and it's either going to be the guys who run the ports that make it, or it's going to be the guys operating the ports that are going to make it," Thornberg said. "They're just fighting over that pot of gold."
President Obama expects Perez to meet with both sides of the dispute, in hopes of finding a settlement.