Local 13 longshore workers Jack Potasi and Aunuua Maaele work at the Port of Long Beach. Click on the photo to read the article in the Los Angeles Times.

Local 13 longshore workers Jack Potasi and Aunu'ua Ma'aele work at the Port of Long Beach. Click on the photo to read the article in the Los Angeles Times.

The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are bringing in a surprising new commodity: jobs. The first post-recession surge in employment at the nation’s busiest seaport complex began this month and appears to be gathering momentum.

Through the first three weeks there was an average of 2,679 longshore jobs a day during the usual three work shifts at the two ports, according to the summaries. That’s an increase of 34.5% over the 1,992 jobs that were available on average a year earlier.

[ILWU Local 13 President] George Lujan said he needed to see sustained employment improvement before he would believe that a strong recovery had arrived. “It’s picked up. It’s a positive sign, but we have no knowledge of what the future holds,” Lujan said.

From the Los Angeles Times, February 22, 2010