The planned dedication of
a new barge service in Stockton, over which US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood
was expected to preside, had to be called off this week due to concerns over a dispute
between stevedoring company Ports America and the International Longshore and Warehouse
Union.
The $30 million Marine Highway
project, under which cargo containers would be shuttled between the ports of Stockton
and Oakland, was supposed to be dedicated Oct. 11, but the ceremony was postponed
by the Port of Stockton.
"We have many questions
related to labor issues that arose between the longshore union and the stevedoring
company involved,” port Director Richard Aschieris told the Stockton Record newspaper Oct. 9. “And really,
without working labor, there’s no way – it’s impossible -- to start the service.”
According to ILWU Local
54, the dispute centers around the number of workers needed for the barge operation.
The union says Ports America wants to use only about half the number of compared
to other maritime ship operations in Stockton. The two sides are still in negotiations
over the amount of labor required for the job.
When eventually launched,
the Marine Highway would travel parallel to Interstate 580, the corridor that many
truckers use to transport goods to and from the ports of Stockton and Oakland. It’s
estimated that about 1,600 containers per day move between the Stockton and Oakland
ports along I-580, which is one of the state’s most congested freeways.
LaHood was expected for
the dedication ceremony because funding for the project comes partially from the
US Department of Transportation. In February 2010, the port received a $13 million
federal grant to buy two 140-ton mobile harbor cranes and to make needed infrastructure
improvements to support the container-on-barge project.
