Los Angeles Harbor Commission Vice President Diane Middleton Honored with Miretti Award

SAN PEDRO — The Center for International Trade & Transportation or CITT has named Los Angeles Harbor Commission Vice President Diane Middleton as this year’s Domenick Miretti Award winner. Announced today at a town hall at California State University Long Beach, the annual award is conferred by CITT to an individual for his or her passion and dedication to the goods movement industry.

“We are proud to present Diane Middleton the 2023 Domenick Miretti Award,” said CITT interim executive director Tyler Reeb. “Like Domenick throughout his career, Diane has fostered meaningful partnerships along the supply chain and facilitated dialogue among industry participants. Her longstanding dedication to promoting healthier and more humane supply chains has earned respect and goodwill from leaders in industry, government, and labor.”

Middleton began serving on the Los Angeles Harbor Commission in 2019, and was elected vice president in July 2023. A resident of San Pedro, Middleton is an attorney and expert in labor and maritime law, long active in Harbor area labor and civil rights issues. She began her law career representing injured auto, steel and hospital workers, and was the first in the 1970s to file a class action asbestos lawsuit on behalf of shipyard workers. In 1979, Middleton established her own law practice in San Pedro, representing injured longshoremen and shipyard workers until her retirement in 2010.

“I am greatly honored to receive this CITT award, and to be recognized for my work on behalf of our local workforce,” said Middleton. “As I have done throughout my career, I will continue to do whatever I can to help strengthen and build our workforce here at the Port of Los Angeles and across the entire supply chain. I am hopeful that we will become known not just for how many TEU’s we move but also for our partnerships and development of the PMA Mechanics Training Center, Alta Sea (the hub of the blue economy) and the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach Goods Movement Training Campus.  A safe, educated and trained workforce is vital to the success of the goods movement industry.”

The CITT Miretti Award was established in 2017 in honor of the late Domenick Miretti, who served as the International Longshore and Warehouse Union or ILWU Liaison for the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, as well as a professor of Earth science at East Los Angeles College. Miretti was a long-time advocate of industry and education collaborations and partnerships, which he believed were essential for the betterment of the trade and transportation workforce. Miretti was also a founding member of the CITT Policy & Steering Committee.