This weekend, June 10-11, 2023 there were a two national news stories that we are going to report on, and how we expect them to impact Audit’s current projects.
What is going on in the Port of Seattle?
Sal Mercogliano, a maritime historian and former merchant mariner, provides a 15 minute overview of what happened this weekend at the Port of Seattle, and the ongoing ILWU-PMA negotiations that we have reported on last week and in our June port review, that continue to evolve.
Here is what we know:
The ILWU (International Longshore and Warehouse Union) and the PMA (Pacific Maritime Association) are on their 13th month of negotiations.
This has resulted in the Chamber of Commerce releasing a letter on Friday, June 9th, requesting to have President Biden assign an independent mediator to help the two sides reach an agreement
Last week, there were terminal disruptions at the Long Beach, Oakland, and Los Angeles ports, however as of Friday, June 9th, any backlog has been resolved.
There is quite a bit of back and forth between the ILWU and the PMA about what exactly went down on Friday into Saturday at the Port of Seattle.
As of 6/12/23 at 12:00 PM MST, the Port of Seattle has not officially commented
The PMA tweeted on Saturday, June 10th claiming that “coordinated and disruptive work actions” have brought the Port of Seattle, and by association, Port of Tacoma, to a halt, sending longshore workers home on shifts on Friday and Saturday.
The ILWU tweeted on Saturday, June 10, that “The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) remains committed to bargaining a contract… The Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) continues using the media to leverage one-sided information in attempt to influence the process.”
The Port of Seattle and Tacoma appear to be operating as normal on Monday.
Audit does not currently foresee this disruption impacting current projects, but will continue to monitor closely as the Ports of Seattle and Tacoma are in the top ten busiest ports in the US
This may impact vendors local to Washington State with longer lead times due to container delays at port.
The I-95 collapse in Philadelphia
On Sunday morning, June 11th, a vehicle fire caused a northbound section of the I-95 to collapse. No injuries or fatalities have been reported at this time, and both directions remain closed into Monday morning.
“Early on Monday morning, local traffic reporters said bumper-to-bumper traffic was spotted near the collapse and along alternate routes, but it appeared that some commuters heeded the warnings to take public transportation or stay home.” A report from Reuters describes.
Many outlets, including the Associated Press, report Governor Josh Shapiro intends to declare a disaster declaration on Monday to expedite federal funds to rebuild this section of roadway that serves around 160,000 cars per day.
The City of Philadelphia and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation already have websites up and running to help commuters find alternate routes as the construction to repair the damage is expected to take months and may even last into 2024.
Audit has not seen any immediate disruption to current project operations, but these situations can change rapidly. We will continue to monitor these stories. Please reach out to our associates should you have any questions about how these will impact your project.