1 - American Memory

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fellow Americans in the Pacific. Shipping Is a life-line for millions of Americans
living in Hawaii, Guam, Amercan Samoa and the U.S. Trust Territory. To
permit the continual and haphazard interference with shipping of even the most
basic commodities from the U.S. mainland to these areas is not only unjust and
demeaning to the principles of lawful commerce, but it imposes undue hardship
on the residents of these areas. These Innocent people are exposed to such
harsh treatment, despite the fact that they have absolutely nothing whatsoever
to do with the cause of the strikes, nor do they have any role in ending these
labor disruptions.
Before I proceed further, however, let me state quite clearly that is Is not the
intent of this legislation to interfere with a duly authorized labor strike, nor
do we wish to appear hostile to the vast numbers of honest, hard-working
maritime workers who serve this country so well.
However, before another dock strike like the one in 1971, which lasted over
four months, is thrust upon us without warning, Congress must act to safe-
guard off-shore Americans in the Pacific from further needless economic bat-
tering. We believe that this action may best be achieved by the legislation now
before this Committee, which provides that all cargo from the West Coast ports
destined for U.S. ports In the Pacific, as well as all cargo emanating from these
same ports and bound for the U.S. West Coast ports, must be processed regard-
less of a labor disruption which may be in progress.
The need for such legislation is clear: Since World War II more than four (4)
years of working time have been lost through transportation strikes affecting
Guam, Hawaii, American Samoa, and the U.S. Trustee Territory, in addition
to the economic ditficulty caused by these di-sruptlons.
During the 1971-72 strike, for example, Guam was forced to purchase large
amounts of food from foreign markets. Additionally, some supplies, such as chlo-
rine gas (for purifying water), had to be shipped in on an emergency basis
by U.S. Naval vessels. Jloreover, many local residents were unemployed for
various periods of time when local business firms cut back on cost to avoid bank-
ruptcy. Construction companies were hard hit by the lack of building supplies.
As Americans, we on Guam rely heavily on U.S. supplies to maintain our
standard of living. So do the over 20,000 military personnel who are stationed
on Guam. They and the local population are not satisfied with less than the best^—
and that means food and other Items made only in the U.S.
In order to assure that the consumer on Guam can obtain the American-made
goods he wants, regardless of a strike, our merchants are forced to stockpile
large amounts of their merchandise as a hedge against a possible strike. Such
action, I am certain you understand, is extremely expensive. And the one who
must eventually pay the bill for the luxury of stockpiling is, naturally, the con-
sumer. But stockpiling Is only a partial solution. Some items, such as perish-
ables, cannot be purchased and stored well in advance. There is only one way In
the final analysis to assure our consumers of uninterrupted service—to keep our
shipping lines open.
Guam Is over 6,.500 miles from California. As an island with little locally-grown
foodstuffs, or adequate sources of other material we need, a heavy volume of im-
portation from the U.S. is the only way In which we can meet our needs. In 1972,
for example, Guam's imports had a total of $156.0 million. Of this total, $63.9
million, or 47%, came from the mainland United States.
As you can see from these statistics, any long-term strike which cuts Guam
and other American areas In the Pacific from our U.S. supply sources can only
have serious consequences.
When a strike is In progress, what alternatives do we In the Pacific have?
We can resort to air-freighting in our supplies from the mainland. This method,
which we did use to some extent previously is extremely expensive and slow,
as planes simply do not carry large amounts of cargo. Some critical Items can
perhaps be sent to us on military vessels on a "space available" basis, but the
amounts would be minimal. Or, we can turn to foreign countries for our needs
during the crisis.
Needless to say, Guam chose the latter alternative and drew heavily on food
purchases from other Pacific areas for survival. With the recent devaluation of
the dollar, foreign food sources are often no longer competitive, though, with
those from the mainland. Thus, the strike-bound consumer may well find him-
self during the next major shipping strike with not only a limited food supply,
but a budget-shattering one as well.