West Coast Port Talks Continue Past Deadline
Talks are continuing past a contract deadline for a contract covering 26,000 dockworkers at West Coast ports, the Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday.
The contract ended Tuesday night for workers represented by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and shipping and port companies, represented through the Pacific Maritime Association, the paper reported.
A statement on the union's Web site said its members would continue working while they negotiated a new contract.
Key issues remain unresolved between the 71 international cargo carriers and terminal operators and the 15,068-member union, the Times said. An additional 11,000 nonunion dockworkers would be bound by the contract.
A 10-day employer lockout at 29 West Coast ports in 2002 ended after President Bush invoked the federal Taft-Harley Act to reopen the docks, the paper reported.
Last year, the 29 ports, led by the big ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif., handled about 1 million tons of cargo a day valued at about $465 billion, the Times said, citing the PMA.
