Tag Archives: Port of LA

LA: Expanding Employment

Employment,

There have been a variety of employment expansion opportunities in the LA region recently.  First, an approval was received from the Port of L.A.’s Board of Harbor for a 10-year extension on a labor agreement to continue hiring workers from the harbor area and high-unemployment communities in the city.

First signed back in 2011, the Project Labor Agreement was awarded the extension with the Los Angeles/Orange Counties Building and Construction Trades Council (a union that represents over 100,000 trade and craft workers). And it’s great for job creation.  As the LA Mayor pointed out: “it will create new career opportunities that Angelenos deserve, and bring stability to operations as we invest billions in infrastructure that will define the future of the Port.”

So how does that work exactly?  According to the regulations of the agreement, nearly a third of top-paying jobs/apprenticeships connected to construction projects must be given to qualified local residents.

The port has already invested $848 million on 20 completed major construction projects (and 6 additional ones to come) but with the new agreement, there are a further 38 planned and proposed infrastructure projects (totaling around $780 million). These projects include: wharf improvements, rail enhancements, shore power upgrades and marine terminal modernization.

 

LA Fleet Week

Featured, ,

fleetSan Pedro is the host of LA’s first Fleet Week.  With military ships docking at its port over Labor Day weekend, the public were able to go on a tour of the naval vessels (including the Iowa battleship, Wayne E. Meyer missile destroyer and ship America), checking out some of the 1,500 sailors and military personnel.  There were search-and-rescue demos from the Coast Guard, military aircraft aerial demos and more.

While Fleet Weeks have been popular for many decades in other cities (like New York, San Diego and San Francisco), this is a first for LA, being termed a “new end-of-summer tradition” for one of America’s busiest container ports.  While the Port of LA has hosted Navy Days L.A. for the last ten years which is similar to Fleet Week showcasing Navy and Marine Corps activities, it is not on the same scale as Fleet Week.  Due to efforts from military and civilian agencies which requested an amplification of the festivities, Navy Days was changed to Fleet Week.

Events during the week are free and open to the public, to celebrate sea services that dates back to World War II and has been hailed as a Naval-American tradition.