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425 S. Palos Verdes Street,
San Pedro, California USA 90731
Phone: (310) 732-3508
Email: community@portla.org

Workforce Development

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The Port of Los Angeles views workforce development as a priority, as a skilled and productive workforce is critical to maintaining the Port’s position as an economic engine for the region, as well as assuring its overall competitiveness in the international trade arena. The Port continues to assess how it can continue to increase its workforce development role in the goods movement sector across Southern California.

Some recent and proposed workforce development initiatives include:

Project Labor Agreement
In 2017, the Port of Los Angeles signed a 10-year Project Labor Agreement (PLA) to both ensure quality and timely construction of facilities and large-scale Port infrastructure projects, as well as to provide more job and training opportunities for residents in communities surrounding the Port. The agreement requires nearly a third of the well-paying jobs and apprenticeships generated by most major Port construction projects go to residents of the harbor area and high-unemployment communities within the City of Los Angeles. The PLA includes a list of participating PLA construction trade unions and contact information for each on Page 61.

View Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) with the City of Los Angeles, as reported by the Bureau of Contract Administration.

High Road Training Partnership (HRTP) Grant
In 2017, in conjunction with the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), and the Office of the Mayor, the Port sought and was awarded a High Road Training Partnership grant from the California Workforce Development Board and Economic Development Department.  The purpose of the grant is to foster the development of partnerships between organized labor and their management counterparts to further innovative training programs. With the grant money, the Port, ILWU, and PMA are currently working together to develop innovative training programs for the longshore workforce.

Workforce Training Center
HRTP grant funds are also going toward development of an ILWU-PMA Workforce Training Center that will focus on attracting new workers into the cargo industry, addressing skill shortages, and providing opportunities for workforce up-skilling or re-skilling to meet the rapidly changing needs of the cargo industry.

Workforce Training EcoSystem
Extending workforce development to the broader community and region is also a focus of the Port. Discussions are currently underway with workforce stakeholders to develop a framework for developing a broader workforce training ecosystem in the Goods Movement sector across the Los Angeles region.

Labor Unions: A Critical Contribution

Labor unions play an important role in the Port’s ability to effectively move cargo. Initiatives by local labor unions serving the Port—and exemplified in the work of the Harry Bridges Institute—have been important in helping educate the next generation of workers within the goods movement industry.

Each year, labor unions facilitate millions of dollars’ worth of cargo at the Port of Los Angeles, supporting workers from warehouse workers, truck drivers, longshoreman, welders, carpenters to workers in various maritime service sectors. These services are critical to assuring the uninterrupted flow of goods in and through the Port.
 
Unions serving the Port include chapters of the ILWU, IBEW, the Los Angeles/Orange Counties Building and Construction Trades Council, SEIU, among others. Individuals interested in applying for a union job should contact the union of interest directly.

Seroka to ILWU: 'Thank You'
In 2021, Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka met with the membership of International Longshore and Warehouse Union Locals 13, 63 and 94 to thank the dockworkers for their unwavering commitment to processing cargo throughout the challenges of the pandemic.
Remembering Dave Arian
The beloved labor leader, community activist and Harbor Commissioner passed away in 2019.
An Appreciation of Labor
In 2018, the late Los Angeles Harbor Commission Vice President David Arian and Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka visited with labor unions to thank them for their hard work and dedication on the waterfront.