SAN FRANCISCO — Union longshoremen geared up for a federal mediation session with West Coast port employers on Thursday in an effort to kick-start stalled contract talks that have led to a management lockout of docks stretching from San Diego to Seattle, Reuters reported.
The International Longshore & Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association, which represents employers, are expected to take up the issue of technology — the key area of dispute in negotiations that have resulted in a management port lockout costing the fragile U.S. economy an estimated $1 billion a day.
The union’s decision to use a federal mediator, an idea quickly embraced by port employers, came after longshoremen stormed out of an earlier session with the director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service when they learned the PMA brought along armed guards.
While the union agreed only to accept the help of the federal mediator on the issue of technology, their decision could be an important step toward a final deal or finding a way to reopen the docks because that issue played a major role in bringing the talks to a halt.
Port employers say new technology — such as computerized cargo-handling machinery — is needed to keep port operations competitive, but labor leaders fear the changes could undermine union control of the docks.
“The PMA accepts the offer of mediation and looks forward to participating in a productive meeting tomorrow with the federal mediator and the union,” the PMA said in a statement. “We hope this signals a breakthrough and we look forward to discussing with the union the steps that will enable the ports to reopen.”
The union’s decision to go back to federal mediators came as California’s senior senator, Dianne Feinstein, joined a growing chorus of fearful business groups calling for President Bush to intervene if the lockout is not over by the end of the week.
The PMA locked some 10,500 union longshoremen out of port facilities from San Diego to Seattle Sunday after accusing them of staging widespread work slowdowns as five-month-old contract negotiations ground to a halt. The union denied it was behind any work slowdowns on the docks that handle $300 billion worth of goods annually.
Economic ripples from the port lockout are already being felt around the country, creating fears for the fragile U.S. economy at a time when retailers should be stocking up for the holiday shopping season.
At the sprawling Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex, the nation’s busiest, 80 ships were either idled in berths or anchored offshore on Wednesday awaiting a breakthrough in the talks.
Through Thursday, another 29 cargo vessels are scheduled to arrive and the U.S. Coast Guard was setting aside massive “holding boxes” in deeper waters off the coast of Huntington Beach to handle the overflow traffic.
With talks deadlocked, pressure also increased on the White House to intervene.
President Bush has told reporters that he is deeply worried about the lockout and was closely monitoring the situation, but he refused comment on whether he would invoke the Taft Hartley Act, which gives him the ability to ask federal courts to declare an 80-day cooling off period.
Even though the ports remained shut, the union said it had reached agreement with individual shipping lines to voluntarily load military cargo, cruise liners, and shipments headed for Hawaii and Alaska — states which depend heavily on sea transport for food and other essentials.
Petroleum tankers are also coming in without incident at terminals in Los Angeles and Long Beach.