POLA Container Volumes Edge up Slightly in May — RL NEWS Briefs, June 15, 2015

POLA Container Volumes Edge up Slightly in May

SAN PEDRO — May 2015 containerized cargo volumes at the Port of Los Angeles edged up .8 percent compared to the same period last year. The Port handled a total of 694,791 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in May 2015.

Imports decreased .8 percent, from 351,403 TEUs in May 2014 to 348,427 TEUs in May 2015. Exports declined 3.5 percent, from 158,473 TEUs in May 2014 to 152,917 TEUs in May 2015. Combined, total loaded imports and exports decreased 1.7 percent, from 509,876 TEUs in May 2014 to 501,344 TEUs in May 2015. Factoring in empties, which increased 7.9 percent, overall May 2015 volumes (694,791 TEUs) increased .8 percent.

For the first five months of 2015, overall volumes (3,181,718 TEUs) are down 4 percent compared to the same period in 2014.

Data container counts for the POLA may be found at: www.portoflosangeles.org/maritime/stats.asp

Garcetti Signs Minimum Wage Increase Into Law

LOS ANGELES — On June 13, Mayor Eric Garcetti signed the City of Los Angeles’s largest anti-poverty measure into law, increasing the city’s minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2020. The law will give a raise to more than 600,000 Angelenos earning minimum wage, helping lift them and their families out of poverty. The Mayor was joined by business, labor, and religious leaders as well as seven members of the Los Angeles City Council to sign the ordinance at

The law raises the minimum wage to $15.00 by 2020 for businesses with 25 employees or more and to $15.00 by 2021 for businesses with 25 or fewer employees. By 2022, and annually thereafter, the minimum wage will increase based on the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) for the Los Angeles metropolitan area.
The minimum wage in Los Angeles will be increased on the following schedule:
7/1/16: $10.50
7/1/17: $12
7/1/18: $13.25
7/1/19: $14.25
7/1/20: $15
For businesses and nonprofits with 25 or fewer employees, the increase will happen on the below schedule:
7/1/17: $10.50
7/1/18: $12.
7/1/19: $13.25
7/1/20: $14.25
7/1/21: $15
Youth wages will be 85 percent of the minimum wage for workers 14 to 17 years old.
Of the more than 600,000 minimum wage earners who will receive a raise, 97 percent of those workers are aged 20 and older; 60 percent are older than 30 years old. More than 80 percent of the workers receiving this raise will be people of color and 50 percent are women. Almost half of minimum wage earners earning this wage have some college education and 14 percent have a bachelor’s degree or higher.
In addition to the minimum wage, Garcetti will sign into law an ordinance passed by the Los Angeles City Council that will establish an Office of Labor Standards, with $500,000 budgeted in fiscal year 2015-2016 to fund investigators and outreach efforts to ensure businesses are paying workers their fair share. The office will work to curtail wage theft and ensure a level playing field for businesses in Los Angeles, working in conjunction with state efforts to enforce the minimum wage.

Garcetti Announces New Deputy Mayor

LOS ANGELES — On June 12, Mayor Eric Garcetti appointed Jeff Gorell as his new deputy mayor for Homeland Security and Public Safety, effective July 6, 2015.

Gorell is a former California State legislator who also served as a military intelligence officer and a deputy district attorney.

As deputy mayor for Homeland Security and Public Safety, Gorell will advise the mayor on policy related to and oversee the departments of police, fire, and emergency management, and he will also coordinate with other regional, state, and federal agencies to ensure Los Angeles is safe and fully prepared for any emergency.

Gorell was a member of the California State Assembly, representing the 37^th and 44^th District, from 2010 to 2014. Previously, he was a deputy district attorney in Ventura County, serving in the Major Narcotics and Serious and Violent Felony Units. Gorell is also a commander in the U.S. Navy Reserve and was deployed twice to Afghanistan, in 2001-2002 and 2011-2012.

Gorell earned his bachelor of arts degree in history from the University of California, Davis and his juris doctorate from University of the Pacific’s McGeorge School of Law. He lives in Camarillo with his wife Laura and their three children.