Covid Buying Boom Puts Pressure on Dockworkers

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  • Workers struggle to keep up with surge in imports brought on by a pandemic-induced buying boom while parts of their workforce are recovering from the coronavirus.
  • There were 48 ships laden with goods destined for store shelves across the United States sitting at anchor in southern California’s San Pedro Bay.
  • Normally, these massive cargo ships would have made their way from factories in China and other Asian nations directly to a dock at the ports of Los Angeles or Long Beach.

A recent news article in the Guardian reveals that stalled ships creates a kind of stress to the crew working in the port.  It may be attributed to the Covid buying boom and its impact on the LA ports.

Today’s scenario in LA Ports

Today, they are spending an average of more than seven days sitting at anchor as dockworkers in southern California struggle to keep up with a surge in imports brought on by a pandemic-induced buying boom while parts of their workforce are recovering from the coronavirus.

“We’re happy to keep working because that is what we do, we’re hard-working people,” Henry Pollard Jr, a tophandler driver who has spent the past 15 years working at the ports. “We just need more skilled labor to help unload all the cargo.”

Coronavirus hits port workers

The backlog at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach – along with nearly every other port in the US – has been exacerbated by the spike in coronavirus cases in southern California tied to the holiday season.

Of the 15,000 dockworkers at the two ports, about 800 have in recent weeks been infected with the coronavirus – a number representing just over 5% of the ports’ total workforce.

Overall, the workforce at both ports has seen almost 1,000 coronavirus infections and reported at least 12 deaths tied to the pandemic.

Southern California’s ports

Southern California’s ports will be able to clear up the backlog sometime my mid-summer, but warned that if the pileup of cargo is not resolved.

There could be dire consequences when consumer spending ramps up even more for next winter’s holiday season.

They have got to be prepared for that because if they don’t get out of this and then the cargo takes another uptick, that’s going to spell a lot more complications than even this equation they have got going right now.

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Source : The Guardian