Which Way, L.A.?
More Business but Fewer Jobs at the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles
Big changes have come to local ports since the Great Recession. Traffic moves faster, the competition is stiffer and cargo ships are massively bigger. It's all leading in the direction of automation -- and that means fewer jobs. As part of KCRW's week-long look at the ports, we bring you a special, in-depth look at those changes and the people affected by them.
By Warren Olney • • 23m ListenFall is the busy season at the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, as much of the stuff Americans give to and get from each other during the holidays comes in on ships and heads to store shelves. In September, the ports saw more traffic than they had since 2006, before the Great Recession. That recession had a profound impact on the culture and future of the ports. CARGOLAND producer Lu Olkowski spent a year trying to understand why the recession hit the ports so hard and how they handled the consequences. Her story is part of a week-long series at KCRW that takes you behind the gates of the LA and Long Beach Ports.
Lu Olkowski produced this story as part of KCRW's Independent Producer Project, with editing by Sean Cole and mixing by Brendan Baker. For photos and to hear more stories go to the website kcrw.com/cargoland. Tomorrow we'll hear another story in this series, about temporary workers on the waterfront who hustle to get good union jobs.
