In late February, Representative Sharice Davids led a group of Democratic members of Congress on a visit to the Port of Long Beach, one of the biggest and busiest ports in the country. The group saw how the port’s efforts to clear COVID-19 backlogs have improved supply chains nationwide and helped lower costs for hardworking families and small businesses.
“We often overlook the crucial role played by workers in places like the Port of Long Beach and the BNSF logistics park in Kansas City in ensuring the smooth operation of our supply chains. We owe them a massive thanks for their tireless work during the pandemic to get our economy back on track. I remain committed to creating good-paying job opportunities in Kansas, so hardworking folks can take care of their families, afford everyday necessities, and live happy, productive lives,” said Rep. Sharice Davids. “As the number of units moving through our nation’s ports has begun to return to normal, supply chains have strengthened and inflation has gone down — but there’s still more work needed to bring down costs. My mom raised three kids on her own, so I know what it’s like to have an already tight budget squeezed even more. Through immediate relief and long-term solutions, I’m going to leverage what I learned at the port to make life more affordable for folks like her and all Kansas families.”
Davids serves as a Vice Chair for the New Dems, one of the largest caucuses in the House of Representatives dedicated to advancing innovative, inclusive, and forward-looking policies through bipartisan collaboration.
“As Vice Chair of the New Dems, I led a group of my colleagues on a visit to the Port of Long Beach to learn how the flow of goods there influences prices back home and to understand their efforts to address the fentanyl crisis,” said Davids. “I’m grateful to port leadership, Customs and Border Patrol, and the longshoreman for showing us how they swiftly recovered from the effects of the pandemic and continue to strengthen our economy and national security. There’s still more work needed to bring down costs and keep Kansans safe, so I’m going to leverage what I learned at the port to make life more affordable, bolster our local workforce, and restore order at the border.”
On the visit, Davids met with Port of Long Beach leadership, Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents, and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU). The group discussed the recovery of national supply chains since the COVID-19 pandemic, how the port uses state-of-the-art technologies to get goods to market faster and prevent harmful substances — like fentanyl — from entering the country illegally, and how union workers have remained skilled and adaptable to strengthen supply chains.
While in Long Beach, the group met with ILWU President Gary Herrera, ILWU Local 63 Vice President Joe Gasperov, and Sal DiCostanzo, ILWU Local 13, Port Liaison – LRC Representative. ILWU is one of the most impressively organized and strongest unions in the nation. The last time the union hit the negotiation table, employers were forced to offer 32 percent raises.
“Let me tell you, I’m so proud of the men and women of the ILWU who have answered the call when our country needed them most. During the COVID-19 pandemic when our country needed them, our members worked 6.5 days per week to ensure that American citizens had the food, medicine and medical supplies and other consumer goods necessary to survive While some people were able to isolate and work from home. Our members were out on the front lines and bore the brunt of the dangers of the virus brought to our shores. On top of the countless members who fell ill, we lost 43 members to COVID-19 so yes, our members deserve a lot of credit for the healthy economy we are enjoying today,” said Gary Herrera ILWU Local 13 President. “After having met with Representative Davids in person, I would like to say how impressed I was with her understanding of our issues and ability to listen. She asked great questions and was very approachable. I’m grateful for her taking the time to visit our Port Complex, our Local Union offices, and hopefully this conversation is only the beginning of a long collaboration of working together.”
As the nation’s third-largest port, the Port of Long Beach’s influence touches local economies nationwide. This visit will help Davids address the challenges faced by hardworking families in Kansas, with the insights gained guiding future efforts to lower costs and enhance economic opportunities at home. During the pandemic, the port saw massive logjams of container vessels due to climbing consumer sales, worker shortages, lack of truck drivers, and a slowdown of transportation hubs. Supply chains have strengthened as the amount of units moving through the port have begun to return to normal, easing economic pressures nationwide and helping to lower inflation.
Davids also met with CBP agents to discuss security at the port and their efforts to halt the illegal smuggling of fentanyl at our borders by utilizing new state-of-the-art technologies. Davids and her colleagues identified what is going right at the port and how those strategies can be used at the southern border. Davids, a member of the bipartisan Fentanyl Prevention Caucus, has been a vocal advocate around fentanyl and opioid death prevention. She has hosted multiple summits with law enforcement, health care workers, and education professionals on combatting the fentanyl epidemic and has taken a number of legislative actions based on the specific needs of the Kansas Third District.
Rep. Davids is a strong ally of organized labor in Kansas City. She serves in several pivotal roles for the region, sitting on the House Committee on Agriculture, the Committee on Small Business, and the very important and hard to get on Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. These roles allow her to directly advocate for working people in Missouri and Kansas, as she directly works with Missouri 5th Rep. Cleaver
Tristin Amezcua-Hogan is the Editor of The Labor Beacon and a member of LIUNA Local 264. Tristin also serves as the Director of Communications for the Greater Kansas City AFL-CIO and the Chair of the Kansas City Regional Transit Alliance.
Tristin grew up as the son of a UA Local 669 member in Tecumseh, KS and the great-nephew of George C. Amis, longtime leader of the United Rubberworkers (now USW Local 307) in Kansas. Growing up in rural Kansas as the child of teen parents, Tristin quickly came to appreciate the life-changing benefit of a union job.
Tristin and his partner, Rebeca Amezcua-Hogan, are residents of the Westside, Kansas City, MO's historic Mexican neighborhood. They are proud members of Kansas City's New Reform Temple.
