Saving port jobs: ILWU members standing in support of the harbor deepening project and save good jobs at the Port of LA.
The Southern California harbor area won a major victory on February 1st, when the Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously to continue with the Main Deepening Channel Dredging project without delay.
The project was supported by many in the harbor area including the ILWU, the shipping industry and the Chamber of Commerce. The Port of Los Angeles stated that the harbor deepening project was vital to allow access to super-sized container vessels and to ensure the Port of Los Angeles’ keeps pace with changes in the shipping industry.
“Our core competitive advantage is to be able to handle these larger capacity vessels,” said Jojo Cortez, President of ILWU Local 13, “This is our future, This directly impacts the future of our rank and file. ” Given the role of the Port’s operations in the region’s economy, the risks of potentially delaying the channel deepening project outweighed any other prospective projects on the table.
ILWU Local 13 President JoJo Cortez spoke before the Los Angeles City Council.
Port Officials have already received the necessary permits to dump dirt dredged from the Main Channel into a pair of unused slips at the Southwest Marine terminal. Any interruption of this project would have required the Port to find another place to store the soil which would have delayed the dredging project up to three years.
It was a victory for the ILWU and the entire economy of California. The Los Angeles City Council, the Executive Director of the Port of Los Angeles Geraldine Knatz, and the Los Angeles Harbor Commission recognized the significance of the channel deepening project and upheld their decision to keep the project on schedule.
The best way for the ILWU to compete with today’s rapidly increasing technological advances, is infrastructure. The channel deepening project will sustain thousands of jobs presently and for the future.