Longshoreman’s Strike Affects Chinatown Merchants

By May Chow
AsianWeek Staff Writer

A stroll down the streets of Chinatown offers a wide selection of fresh fruits and produce at prices that are cheaper than big-name supermarkets. But with the injunction that ended the longshoremen’s strike coming up for review next week, prices may yet go up and selection down.

Tuesday, President Bush put into effect the Taft-Hartley Act, which put the strike into a federally mandated cooling period. But the decision whether the West Coast ports will remain open now rests with the San Francisco Federal District court, which will rule next week whether to grant a full 80-day injunction.

Before the strike, Californian agricultural products bound for Hong Kong and Taiwan sat rotting along the docks. Apple farmers have been hit especially hard. Normally at this time, Taiwan is a huge customer for Fuji apples. If the strike continues, many farmers may try to sell more of their fruits and vegetables in the United States, but this could cause depreciation in the domestic market. Grocery stores and supermarkets will probably lower the prices on produce — tomatoes, lettuce, carrots — grown locally because there’s no overseas market. But those who want imported fruits like bananas, will have to dig deeper into their wallets.

Grocers aren’t the only ones fearing the return of the strike: store merchants are afraid their orders won’t make it in time for the holiday season. Perishable items will once again be held up at the docks; Chinese herbs and tonics and sundry products from Asia will also find their temporary homes along the water.

Burk Chung, who has owned Superior Trading Co. on Washington Street for more than half a century, said the long-term effects of the strike will drive up prices of many goods in Chinatown.

“The import-export trade is the lifeline of Chinatown,” Chung said. “Most stores in Chinatown, except restaurants, import many goods from Hong Kong, China, Indonesia, Japan.”

Many Chinatown merchants receive their goods via ships because it costs less than having them flown in. Chung relies heavily on herbs and ginseng imported from China. His store sells health foods and traditional Chinese herbs used to make medicinal soups and drinks.

Before the injunction, he had two shipments of loquat syrup sitting on the San Francisco pier. Loquat syrup is a thick, black syrup extracted from the loquat fruit. Similar to cough syrups, loquat syrup is used to relieve sore throats and coughs. Chung said he has enough inventory to last about two weeks, but after that, the shelf space reserved for loquat syrup will be empty.

For Chung, his number one concern is the cost of waiting for the workers and shippers to come to some sort of agreement or compromise.

“The longer the delay, the more we’ll be charged for the dock fees,” he said. “We get charged for every minute the shipments sit there on the pier.”

Six crates of David Lei’s merchandise were also stuck. Lei, president of International Sources, a San Francisco-based import-export company, said he doesn’t even know where his shipments are right now. His company imports goods such as garments, housewares, and furniture from Asia and exports to Mexican and San Francisco businesses.

“I really don’t know where they are,” said Lei. “It was on a steamship line bound for Long Beach. I know some were unloaded in Mexico and continued on to our clients. The containers from Indonesia are valued at $30,000 and the ones with clothes are about $100,000. I feel a bit helpless.”

Lei said he receives one to two e-mails a day about the talks between the two sides; however, he doesn’t believe things are really progressing.

Stanley Tom, one of the owners of Chong Imports in Chinatown, said luckily the strike has not affected him. His store sells processed foods, canned goods and other manufactured items.

“My last shipment was two months ago, and some of the orders have been held because of the strike,” Chong said. “I’m going to take this month-by-month, and I believe that I have inventory enough to last me through the holiday season. But I hope that the strike will be over before the Christmas season.”

On Sept. 27, the Pacific Maritime Association closed the ports, leaving some 10,500 dockworkers in a contract dispute over future jobs and new technology, at 29 ports stretching along the coastlines from Seattle to San Diego. California Sen. Dianne Feinstein called for an immediate end to the lockout of dockworkers, whose labor contract ended on July 1.

Tuesday’s application of the Taft-Hartley Act makes President Bush the first president to successfully invoke the act since President Nixon in 1971. The last time the act was invoked was in 1978, when President Carter unsuccessfully tried to end a 1978 coal strike.