Dive Brief:

• Since the beginning of winter, West Coast ports have seen work slowdowns that have decreased cargo movement in ports in cities including Los Angeles, Long Beach, Oakland, Seattle, and Tacoma.

• The slowdown, led by union workers who’ve labored without a contract since July, will soon lead to a collapse of activity at the ports according to the Pacific Maritime Association, which represents the shippers.

• A federal mediator has been involved in the talks since last month. The union says progress is being made, but the shippers say that current conditions cannot last.

Dive Insight:

The Pacific Maritime Association says it’s not threatening a lockout, but that the current situation at West Coast ports includes cargo movement so slow that it will "collapse of its own weight," according to Pacific Maritime Association president James McKenna​.

“We’re not considering a lockout,” McKenna told reporters. “What I’m really saying is that this system will bring it to a stop. Once that happens, we really don’t have a choice.”

It’s a development that retailers have been dreading, in a situation that has already cost them.