FuturePorts Conference: Heavy on Growth, Light on labor

(photo: Port of Los Angeles)

FuturePorts hosted it’s annual conference on Monday, June 23, at the San Pedro DoubleTree Hotel. According to conference material, FuturePorts is the dynamic and visionary organization working to secure a vibrant economic and environmental future for the port, businesses, and surrounding communities. This year’s theme was “Strong Ports = Strong California, The Future is Now.”

The day-long conference began with a breakfast at 7 a.m. and included three separate panels hosted and manned by individual representatives from various sectors relevant to the port.

The first panel, Global Competition: Who, What, and Where are California’s Biggest Threats? highlighted the national investments made by both the ports of Miami and Virginia to attempt to attract business away from west coast post. Countries like Canada and Mexico continue to build on their existing ports in their efforts to compete with the American import/export of goods movement.

Panel number two, Southern California’s Strengths: Protecting Our Assets to Retain Our Market Share and Competitive Advantage, included administrative speakers from the department of transportation, the ports, and big companies such as Union Pacific Railroad. The speakers applauded local port companies, government agencies and individuals, equipment, technology, professional relationships, and even the weather as reasons why doing business with the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach is a good idea.

Surprisingly, no one on the panel mentioned the experienced, reliable workforce which represents more than 30,000 workers who labor in and around the ports daily as a strength or asset to retaining our market share and offering a competitive advantage.

When asked directly during the question/answer segment of the panel why labor was not represented on stage, vague answers were offered about the need to invest in the labor force by targeting unemployment and by moving ahead of the “labor problem” by creating better qualified workers. There was no mention of the existing “qualified workers” who show up to work every day.

“The focus of this particular panel was on Southern California’s infrastructure; projects and facilities that can be constructed in order to move cargo from the Ports throughout the goods movement supply chain to the end consumer, both for imports and exports,” clarified FuturePorts executive director Elizabeth Warren, via email.

The third and final panel, Energy: Implementing Technology focused on the overall efforts being made by all parties to “green and grow” the ports.

The morning keynote address was delivered by former U.S. trade representative and Secretary of Commerce, the Honorable Mickey Kantor. The midday keynote address was delivered by Long Beach mayor-elect Robert Garcia.

The majority of the day’s speakers agreed that collective efforts to green and grow the port were viable to their economic and environmental success. Major businesses were actively represented at the conference to solidify this point, but labor was not. Warren stated that FuturePorts works closely with labor, and proudly calls four different labor unions as members. She added that, “labor has always been a part of our table to discuss these issues, and part of the conversation on how we can all move forward as one community.”

This was carpenter Edward Ripley’s first time attending the conference even though the carpenter’s union has sent representatives for the past five years. Ripley, who is the Executive Director of Apprenticeship Training for the Southwest Carpenters Training Fund, attended with hopes that his union’s involvement with FuturePorts will “continue to forge relationships with other labor unions to support upcoming job opportunities for all union members.”

Considering that this is a contract year for the ILWU, the biggest union representing port workers, labor should have had a more active presence at the annual conference, especially since, as Warren stated, “FuturePorts’ strength is in bringing business, labor, and community together to provide a forum to have a civilized discussion on various timely topics related to the goods movement industry.”

This year the organization succeeded in bringing business and community together. Hopefully next year, it will include labor.