West Coast port dispute hits Central Coast

The months-long port showdown on the western seaboard is finally hitting the Central Coast. The battle spanning from Seattle to Long Beach is now affecting local businesses and potentially, a lot of jobs.

Recent numbers show that every day the port showdown continues, $1 billion globally is lost. The contentious contract negotiations between the Pacific Maritime Association and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union are being felt by small businesses like A&S Metals in Castroville. The company isn’t able to ship out commodities like mixed paper or metal.

“At a normal production rate for our paper products,” Jeff Vezzolo, manager of A&S Metals explained, “We should have approximately 20-25 containers per week. However right now we are lucky to get 1 or 2 containers per week.”

Some of the major sticking points between the two parties are wages, pension and contract length. In the meantime, A&S is stuck with a lot of recyclables.

“Right now we are sitting on approximately 8 million lbs. of paper products which equates out to nearly 200 40-foot long Sealand containers,” Vezzolo said.

Without much product moving in or out, the company isn’t making money. But it’s still grasping for opportunities to keep all of their 200 employees working.

“It’s certainly forcing our hand to increase efficiency wherever possible,” Vezzolo explained, “If we have to make cuts, that’s something we’ll look at as well and its nothing we want to do. Laying off staff is an absolutely last resort but we want to keep our people working.”

As talks continue, and a federal negotiator is brought in, A&S said it will explore every available avenue to get rid of some of these recyclable products.