Strike deadline at Los Angeles and Long Beach ports was pushed to Friday night

A possible labor stoppage at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach was pushed back to midnight Pacific Time on Friday, November 6, while strikes and a customs systems failure in France continued to disrupt cargo flows, according to a Thursday, November 5 update from the Wine & Spirits Shippers Association.

The trade group said ILWU Local 26 and the Pacific Maritime Association agreed to extend their contract negotiation deadline, delaying any immediate strike at the two Southern California ports. Local 26 represents about 250 watchmen who handle security duties. Even so, the association said the Pacific Maritime Association had warned that other members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union would be expected to honor any picket lines if a strike were called.

That raises the stakes beyond the size of the local bargaining unit. The broader West Coast longshore contract is not part of this dispute and remains in effect through 2028. But the association said wider union support could still produce a major stoppage or a significant slowdown in cargo handling if talks break down. The group said it still expected a settlement without a strike, but described the situation as one to watch closely.

Any disruption at Los Angeles and Long Beach would matter well beyond the local labor dispute because the port complex is a key entry point for containerized imports. For beverage companies, the risk is that delays at the terminals could interrupt the movement of wine, beer and spirits, add storage and transport costs, and force shipments onto later sailings. Importers and distributors often work on narrow delivery windows, especially when products need to clear port operations, inland transport and warehouse scheduling in sequence.

In France, the association said national strike action was affecting ports and terminals on Thursday, November 5, and that work stoppages were expected to continue on Friday, November 6. The report said a separate 24-hour strike by French port tugboat crews was planned for Friday, November 6, adding another pressure point for vessel movements. Tug services are central to berthing and departures, so any interruption can affect vessel schedules even when terminal operations continue in some form.

The association also pointed to broader protests in France. It said the Yellow Vest movement had called for rolling strikes focused in part on transport and infrastructure, with mass demonstrations scheduled for Saturday, November 7. According to the report, the movement has joined with students and trade unions in protests over the cost of living, teacher shortages and austerity measures. The association said shippers should expect delays in container handling and vessel schedules, along with added congestion at Le Havre, where backlogs were already in place.

The French situation has been made worse by technical problems in customs clearance. The association said France’s national customs system, Delta IE, had been down since 3 p.m. on Tuesday, November 3, and that the supplier customs system, GAMMA 2, had been disconnected. Customs authorities had expected repairs within 24 hours, the report said, but the systems had not been restored by Thursday, November 5.

With the main systems unavailable, emergency processing has come under strain. The association said the fallback process had been overwhelmed by requests from suppliers and customs brokers. As a result, many containers may not receive customs clearance in time and could be rolled to later sailings. For the beverage trade, that can be especially disruptive because imported wine and spirits often move through ports under time-sensitive commercial schedules, and any missed sailing or delayed clearance can affect distributor inventories, promotional timing and cash flow.

The combined effect of labor unrest and customs disruption in France creates a double risk for cargo owners. Even where goods can reach the port, they may face delays in handling, loading or release. In Southern California, the immediate question is whether negotiations between ILWU Local 26 and the Pacific Maritime Association can produce an agreement before the Friday, November 6 deadline. In France, operators and shippers are dealing at the same time with labor action on the waterfront, possible transport protests inland and a customs bottleneck that has left brokers and suppliers relying on emergency workarounds.