Add labor disruption to the supply-chain challenges hitting U.S. importers on the West Coast, reports The Wall Street Journal. Truckers protesting the new California law that toughens the definition of nonemployee drivers have effectively shut down operations at the Port of Oakland.
Protestors blocked gates at the SSA Terminals facility that handles a big share of the port’s containers, and that International Longshore and Warehouse Union members refused to cross the picket line. At least one ship was at berth but couldn’t be loaded or unloaded.
The blockades are allowing only a trickle of operations at the third-largest port on the West Coast, a gateway that has already struggled with some of the backups that have afflicted other ports.
A port spokesman said the truckers should take their message to the state capitol in Sacramento and that continuing protests will drive customers away from Oakland.
