Dockworkers at the nation’s largest commercial seaport complex continue battling the coronavirus, even as numbers wane across Los Angeles County — with about 41% of all positive tests at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach occurring in the first six weeks of the new year.
There were 590 cases suspected coronavirus cases at the ports from Jan. 1 to Feb. 12, with 355 of those coming being confirmed, according to data the International Longshore and Warehouse Union’s Coast Division. Since the pandemic began, 853 dockworkers have tested positive out of 1,400 suspected cases, according to that data, which the labor union released Thursday, Feb. 18. The numbers are about equally divided between the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
The longshore union also confirmed Thursday that its 13th worker had died this week from coronavirus-related causes.
Some 15,000 people, including part-timers, work at the docks of both ports. They are classified as essential workers and have remained on the job throughout the pandemic, moving a third of the nation’s cargo — including personal protective equipment and other medical supplies needed to fight the coronavirus.
“Longshore workers can’t move these critical, pandemic-fighting supplies from the safety of a home office,” Frank Ponce De Leon, ILWU coast committeeman, said in a written statement. “We work in close quarters, lashing containers side-by-side with a partner, pulling slings while discharging breakbulk cargo, riding shuttle buses between terminals, and working together in the hold of a ship.”
Because of the critical role dockworkers play in the national and regional economy, officials for both ports, the union and terminal operators have aggressively lobbied state lawmakers to prioritize vaccinations for them.
Yet, even though some vaccinations were distributed specifically to longshore workers in Long Beach about a week ago, supplies and distribution points remain unsettled. Getting vaccinated, though, is not a challenge exclusive to dockworkers. While things have improved recently, the rollout of vaccines has generally been slow and marked by multiple delays.
And coronavirus-caused workforce shortages have contributed, along with a six-month surge in consumer spending, to recent supply chain logjams that have left ships waiting up to a week at anchor before unloading their cargo, officials have said.
Mario Cordero, executive director of the Port of Long Beach and board chairman of the American Association of Port Authorities, said vaccinations for dockworkers are a national issue that needs to be addressed so goods continue flowing and the economy can recover.
“We don’t want to get to an inflection point where all of a sudden the worst scenarios occur,” Cordero said, “because it was not a priority where it should be on vaccine distribution.”
The Port of Los Angeles has a plan ready to go that would turn the World Cruise Center into a mass vaccination clinic site to serve port workers.
But there have been “no on-site modifications at this time,” said LA port spokesman Phillip Sanfield, because officials are waiting to get the OK from government agencies.
“It’s not yet confirmed that the cruise center will be a location,” Sanfield said.
“Obviously,” he added, “a lot depends on vaccine availability. Bottom line is we stand ready to assist if or when called upon.”
Bloomberg News contributed to this report.