business backgrounder | economy
The Costs and Consequences of the 2014-15
Port Slowdown
Market disruption, damaged client relations, and hundreds of
millions of dollars in lost sales: That’s just the beginning.
Richard S. Davis
The 2014-15 West Coast port slowdown cost Washington businesses $769.5 million. That “near term
impact” does not capture the future costs of damaged client relations, loss of business, and an international
loss of confidence in the reliability of the West Coast ports. Business and trade leaders are working to
guarantee such a disruption is not repeated.
Contentious contract negotiations between the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) and the International Longshore and
Warehouse Union (ILWU) in 2014-15 led to a months-long slowdown at major West Coast ports. Washington’s trade-driven
economy took a major hit, with consequences that are still being addressed.
The short-term effects played out visibly on the docks, retail
shelves and factory floors. Trade and business leaders scrambled
to find alternative paths to the market, even as they lobbied for
resolution of the conflict.
Fruit rotted. Retailers lost sales because they lacked inventory.
Storage bills accumulated. Customers lost confidence. Workers
lost jobs. Markets shrank or disappeared.
Eric Schinfeld, the
president of the Washington
Council on International
at a glance
Trade (WCIT), witnessed the
damage.
The 2014-15 West Coast
port slowdown
-$769.5 million
market disruption
warehousing/storage fees
lost sales
An economic impact study prepared
for the Washington Council on
International Trade by Community
Attributes Inc. found the slowdown cost
Washington businesses $769.5 million.
The costs include a net loss of $403.2
million in lost export value, $345.1
million in delayed or delinquent
delivery of imports, and $14.2 million in
fees for warehousing and storage.
An early extension or successful
renegotiation of the contract reached
between the International Longshore
and Warehouse Union and the Pacific
Maritime Association would be the
tangible, positive sign of labor peace
needed to restore confidence in West
Coast ports.
38 association of washington business