Months long port dispute over

A tentative labor deal between the Pacific Maritime Association and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union means a huge sigh of relief for the economy. The deal is also great news for some along the Central Coast.

The settlement comes after nine months of negotiations and backlog at 29 West coast ports. The agreement means an end to the millions of dollars lost from slowed freight traffic at West Coast ports which handle half of all U.S. maritime trade.

Port officials have said it would take six to eight weeks to clear the immediate backlog of cargo containers piled up on the docks and several months for freight traffic to return to normal rhythm. The settlement helped avoid a prolonged labor dispute that would’ve cost the U.S. economy $2 billion a day.

A local business on the Central Coast is also breathing a sigh of relief over this new agreement.
“We are optimistic about the deal that’s been struck between the PMA and the Longshoreman’s Union,” Jeff Vezzelo, manager of A&S Metals said.

Optimistic that the dispute is finally over. But as long as the battle waged on, the recovery may last just as long for A&S Metals in Castroville.

“Currently we are sitting on eight million pounds of fiber products, between cardboard and recyclable papers,” Vezzelo said. “We’re likely to sit on this inventory or feel the long-term effect of this inventory for many months to come, and frankly, it could be up to a year.”

While it seems like there’s much work for the employees here, that’s simply not the case. Domestic markets know there’s a backlog so they’ve been able to get low prices. A&S is hopeful international markets will be able to push prices up to where they should be because jobs are on the line.

“Cutting back or laying off employees is an option,” Vezzolo said. “An option that we aren’t taking lightly and we want to hold that to the very last resort. Our employees are the backbone of our company.”