SAN FRANCISCO — West Coast docks will reopen today, ending at least temporarily a devastating port lockout that cost the U.S. economy at least $19 billion over 12 days, the Oakland Tribune reported.
For the first time in more than 20 years, the 55-year-old Taft-Hartley Act was invoked, forcing shippers and dockworkers back to work for 80 days.
In doing so, U.S. District Judge William Alsup agreed Tuesday with President Bush that conditions required for the act to be invoked were met.
“The lockout is over as of now and … the union is ordered not to engage in any slowdowns,” Alsup said after a brief hearing. “I want to make it clear, you are expected to immediately resume normal operations.”
But when operations resume this evening at 29 West Coast ports, it promises to be anything but normal. Shipping companies and dockworkers must begin moving thousands of containers left stranded at sea or at terminals shuttered for the past 12 days.
Union leaders remained defiant Tuesday, saying they will not compromise safety to increase production and continued to blame shipping companies for holding the nation’s economy hostage just to win federal intervention.
Shippers, meanwhile, said it would take at least eight weeks to clear the backlog of containers on more than 200 ships left idling up and down the coast.
“This injunction is not going to help the bargaining process one bit,” said Robert Remar, an attorney representing the International Longshore and Warehouse Union. “It’s just going to make matters worse.”
Bush asked for the law’s enactment Tuesday afternoon after a three-member board of inquiry, appointed by the president, said there was no chance a resolution would be found soon.
“We believe that the seeds of distrust have been widely sown, poisoning the atmosphere of mutual trust and respect,” the board wrote in its report. “We have no confidence that the parties will resolve the West Coast port dispute within a reasonable time.”
Shortly after receiving the report, Bush, flanked by five Cabinet members from the Defense, Transportation, Commerce, Agriculture and Transportation departments, said, “The work stoppage is hurting our entire economy.”
“This nation simply cannot afford to have hundreds of billions of dollars a year… sitting idle,” Bush said. “I have determined that the current situation imperils our national health and safety.”
Shippers, represented by the Pacific Maritime Association, welcomed government intervention and said it was the only way activities at the docks could resume without interruption.
It also guarantees ports will remain open through the Christmas holiday shopping season — a vital time for importers and exporters who depend on ocean-bound cargo to keep store shelves filled with merchandise.
Union leaders, however, said Taft-Hartley Act only means that a union’s right to collective bargaining has ended and accused both the government and the shippers of engaging in a well-rehearsed plan to steal union leverage in negotiations.
“This is some nice, well-crafted mousetrap that has been set,” Remar said. “What we have is essential collusion to neutralize and destroy the ILWU.”
Union leaders said the administration’s threats early on in negotiations coupled with the shippers’ refusal of a last minute 30-day contract extension proved both sides were working together to steal the union’s right to bargain a fair contract.
And the bitterness reverberated throughout the organization as union bosses said they will continue to follow safety rules, which the shippers have characterized as slowdowns.
“There is a new dock boss now, and his name is George W. Bush,” said Richard Mead, president of ILWU Local 10, which covers the Port of Oakland. “Will the longshoremen listen to Boy George? That is another question.”
Despite the rancor, businesses dependent on the continued flow of containers through ports cheered Bush’s decision.
Car factories that either closed or began slowing production said the delivery of parts will allow them to continue operations, while small businesses that import and export goods said it would relieve them from laying off workers.
For example, Michael Damer, spokesman for the New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. plant in Fremont, predicted the plant’s truck production line, shut down for the last week, will resume operations by Friday.
“I think the president did the right thing,” said Jose Duenas, chief executive office for the Bay Area World Trade Center, a trade promotion organization. “Hopefully, they’ll move forward to resolve this before the 80 days comes to an end.”
Railroad companies, which have been losing at least $4 million a day, also sighed in relief but cautioned the flow of goods will be slow.
Both the Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad have put in place plans to limit the number of containers entering their rail yards to prevent overcrowding.
“Everybody’s going to have to be very creative and flexible,” said Mike Furtney, a spokesman for Union Pacific.
The docks are expected to be back in operation by tonight. Shippers could not meet a 3 p.m. deadline to order workers for the morning shift but said they will meet the deadline today for work to resume.
Labor experts said the situation is far from solved and there is no guarantee of a dealwithin 80 days.
“The major criticism of Taft-Hartley is that it distracts parties from making hard compromises,” said Michael LeRoy, a professor of labor and industrial relations at the University of Illinois, Urbana. “People don’t compromise well under outside pressure.”