Tariffs leave Port of Seattle with about 70 jobs for 600 dockworkers

At the Port of Seattle, a dispatcher said some mornings there are only about 70 jobs available for roughly 600 longshore workers. "No ships came in last night, so we have maybe 70 jobs today for 600 workers," Sarah Esch said before dawn on a recent Monday as she eyed the whiteboard used to track shifts.

Longshore workers at Seattle and other West Coast ports unload Asian imports and load American exports. The decline in work this year has followed broad tariffs advocated by President Trump as a long-term strategy; the president has argued short-term pain is worth long-term economic realignment, the article said.

Through November, the total number of shipping containers through Seattle and Tacoma was down almost 4 percent from 2024, a figure skewed by a first-quarter 2025 spike when shippers rushed goods ahead of potential tariffs; since August, monthly traffic has fallen in the double digits compared with 2024, and there was no pre-Christmas rush, Port of Seattle commissioner Sam Cho said, "We're feeling it all right now." Work at the unionized Local 19 hall is governed by seniority and three ranks: entry-level "casuals" with no benefits, B-level workers who get health care and a guaranteed 32 hours of pay, and A-level workers who are guaranteed 40 hours, full benefits and larger pensions.

Hourly rates can start around $40 and rise to as much as $63 for the most experienced and specially trained workers.

Key Topics

Politics, Tacoma, Tariffs, Donald Trump, Shipping Containers