Last load since dock lockout arriving today
By Dan Nakaso
Advertiser Staff Writer
The last shipment of goods from the Mainland is scheduled to arrive in Hawai'i today as distributors, retailers and consumers wonder how long they can hold out as a West Coast dock shutdown dragged on yet another day.
Matson Navigation Co.'s R.J. Pfeiffer is scheduled to sail into Honolulu Harbor just before noon today with the last load of supplies to come by sea since the association representing shipping companies and terminal operators locked out dockworkers at 29 Pacific ports Sunday night.
The Pfeiffer quickly left Los Angeles with less than a full load Sunday before the latest shutdown.
"That's the last ship," said Mark Teruya, president of Armstrong Produce Ltd., Hawai'i's largest produce distributor. "We're very concerned. We're making alternative plans to fly in a lot of merchandise."
Many businesses and consumers in the Islands had been stocking up on goods as contract talks on the Mainland had grown increasingly antagonistic. With the Islands dependent on shipping for 90 percent of all goods, however, many companies are starting to feel the economic effects of the delays as well as starting to make shipment contingency plans.
Yesterday, there was little progress in the dispute. No talks were held but there was one slight sign of movement: The negotiating committee for the International Longshore & Warehouse Union agreed to meet with the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service today to discuss the single issue of new technology for the ports.
"Technology is a key sticking point," ILWU spokesman Jeremy Prillwitz said. "And we're prepared to do whatever it takes to move forward on this issue and we're hoping that both sides meeting with a mediator might make some difference in helping us to find middle ground."
The ILWU, which represents the 10,500 West Coast dockworkers, said it would meet at a neutral site in San Francisco with the association and Peter Hurtgen, director of the mediation service.
Leaders of the Pacific Maritime Association — which represents more than 80 shipping lines and terminal operators — met yesterday, but Gov. Ben Cayetano said he had not heard yesterday what reaction the group had to his request for a Hawai'i exemption to the lockout.
Spokesmen for the association did not return calls seeking comment yesterday.
Cayetano on Tuesday had sought an exemption to allow shipments to the Islands. Cayetano said through a spokesman yesterday that, "I am optimistic that Hawai'i is entitled to receive the exemption."
ILWU officials yesterday reiterated their offer to load or unload ships to and from Hawai'i, or any other ships in their ports.
"Our members are ready and willing to work and we hope that the PMA comes to its senses soon and lets us do our jobs at all the ports," said James Spinosa, international president of the ILWU.
The two sides remain at odds over pensions and other benefits, as well as the union's demand to control any new jobs that would come with the introduction of modern cargo-handling technology.
Teruya of Armstrong Produce said he was not optimistic that the ILWU's offer for mediation on the technology issue would ease his problems.
Teruya said Armstrong's load of 80,000 pounds of produce did not get aboard the Pfeiffer before it set sail Sunday. So Teruya had it flown to Hawai'i at a cost of $20,000. It normally costs Armstrong $8,000 to ship an equivalent load by sea.
"We're looking into chartering a plane or finding space available," Teruya said yesterday. "But by air it's 2ý times the cost to send freight on a ship. What I'm worried about is the added cost that the people of Hawai'i will have to absorb, whether it's for milk or chickens or other perishable goods."
The shutdown is causing economic ripple effects across the Mainland, as truckers, retailers, manufacturing companies and hundreds of other businesses stall while awaiting cargo that is stacking up in cargo ships lining the West Coast.
For Hawai'i, as the lockout heads toward its first full week, it's still too soon to measure the overall economic impact, said Pearl Imada Iboshi, chief economist for the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.
Most companies had anticipated problems on the West Coast and have stockpiled supplies, which should buffer the situation for a few weeks, Iboshi said.
"In the near future, it shouldn't be a concern," she said. "If it lasts just within a couple of weeks, there should be no change in prices."
Military officials were among those who began stockpiling weeks ago and their commissaries have not been affected, said Nancy O'Nell, a spokeswoman for the Western/Pacific Region of the Defense Commissary Agency.
She said the lockout has not yet affected supplies at military installations in Hawai'i.
"In Hawai'i, commercial distributors support our military commissaries," O'Nell said. "These distributors support both commercial and military customers. We have worked with them since June to increase inventories on key products, and we are communicating daily to assess the impact."
O'Nell said military officials are working on a contingency plan should the lockout continue, but she would not discuss details.
Advertiser staff writer Mike Gordon contributed to this report.
