Clerical Strike at LA Ports Could Divert Freight Elsewhere

Retail trade group asks Obama in intervene

A labor strike by port workers in Los Angeles and Long Beach has closed several cargo terminals.

If the strike continues, shipping containers will be diverted elsewhere on the West Coast and could lead shippers to change routes to East Coast ports if the labor issues cause long-term changes, one expert toldLand Line Magazine. 

An estimated 7,000 clerical workers are represented by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 63 at the twin ports, which bring in as much as 40 percent of U.S. imports. They have stopped working and set up picket lines outside most terminals. The port disruption prompted the world's largest retail trade association, the National Retail Federation, to ask President Obama to intervene.