“Labor negotiations resumed Monday at West Coast ports, including the Port of Oakland, following a weekend shutdown of vessel cargo operations.
By mid-Monday, there were 14 container ships anchored in San Francisco Bay and outside the Golden Gate awaiting a marine berth at one of the port’s five terminals.
The partial shutdown of port operations at 29 West Coast ports was called by the Pacific Maritime Association, which represents shippers and terminal operators in increasingly bitter negotiations with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union.
Negotiations are now in their ninth month, with a work slowdown and equipment shortage crippling operations up and down the coast. The slowdown has dismayed importers and exporters.
The association warned last week that the ports are facing “gridlock” because of a longshore workers slowdown. The union has countered that the logjam is due to a number factors beyond its control.
Federal intervention would be likely if the association halted all operations at the port because of gridlock, according to a Port of Oakland update.
The port, which leases space to terminal operators, warned that a coast-wide strike or a shutdown by employers would idle tens of thousands of workers and slam manufacturers, farmers and small business owners. It said more than 70,000 people depend on the port for their…”
Originally posted by San Jose Mercury News. Full article at http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_27492718/contract-talks-west-coast-port-operations-resume-amid
