Retailers say port workers' strike would not hit Juneau hard
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Local retailers who have been stockpiling goods and developing contingency plans in preparation for a possible West Coast longshoremen's strike can relax, at least in the short term.
Though such a strike could cripple much of the $300 billion shipping industry from California to Washington, Juneau retailers will not be affected immediately because Alaska Marine Services and Northland Services, two companies that ship goods to Southeast, do not employ union members.
"(The strike) is not going to impact stuff that will show up in Juneau stores," said Tim Satre, Southeast manager of Northland Services. "Whether in the long term it is going to have impact on the larger stores, like Costco or Kmart, that ship from overseas, we'll have to see."
According to this morning's Seattle Times, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, which represents 10,500 port workers who unload boats on the West Coast, has been engaged in tense negotiations with the Pacific Maritime Association since July 1, when the dock workers' contract ran out.
Both sides agreed to rolling contract extensions that expired on Sunday and weren't extended because talks broke down. Without a contract, the union may engage in a work slowdown or a strike.
Talks resumed Wednesday, but there has been no settlement. Union spokesman Steve Stallone said "all work job-action possibilities are open."
For the most part, perishable goods arrive in Seattle by truck and are loaded on to barges by employees of Alaska Marine and Northland, Satre said. Sealand and Tote Container ship to Anchorage and employ union members in Seattle, Satre said.
Local retailers have been concerned about the strike, fearing it would affect freight shipments. Ron Alsup, store manager at the Alaskan and Proud market downtown, said the store receives a week's worth of perishable goods every Monday. If there is a problem with barge service, the store plans to use the state ferry system, he said.
"It's a little more spendy, pretty near double, but we would only have a slight disruption in the schedule," Alsup said.
The cost of shipping perishable goods by ferry would be passed on to consumers, Alsup said.
In the case of large chain retailers such as Costco, some goods that come into western ports from overseas may be disrupted. Juneau Costco has been preparing for that possibility by stocking up.
"Our buyers have been loading us up in anticipation of the strike. We have quite a bit of holding power," said Tim Barnes, assistant manager at Juneau Costco.
Aside from retailers, other industries that may be affected by a strike are the cruise ship industry in Alaska, which uses unionized longshoremen for a relatively small number of ships that dock in Seattle, and the fishing industry, which depends on longshoremen to load boats for overseas shipping, said John Bukoskey, Juneau president of the Alaska Local 200 chapter of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union.
Eric Norman, general manager at the Taku Fisheries fish processor, echoed those concerns.
"We could get products off to Seattle and then they'd be sitting on the dock. Mitsui (the overseas freight line Taku uses) hasn't indicated anything like that to us so far. Obviously, it would have a big impact on Alaska if that was the case," Norman said.
Representatives from the North West CruiseShip Association could not be reached for comment this morning.
Bukoskey said Alaska longshoremen are on a different contract than longshoremen in the western United States. Their contract, which expires next year, prohibits them from striking now, he said. Local 200 represents about 150 to 200 longshoremen in all Alaska ports except for Anchorage and Skagway, he said. The are eight Local 200 longshoremen in Juneau.
Gov. Tony Knowles sent a letter to the western longshoremen's union in April in anticipation of the contract negotiations. Knowles asked the union to spare Alaska in the event of a strike, saying the life, health, safety and economic stability of Alaska communities was at stake. In a response letter, union President James Spinosa made no indication his group would comply with the governor's request.
Julia O'Malley can be reached at jomalley@juneauempire.com.