Talks to end West Coast seaports deadlock go on 1-day hiatus
Source: AP-Excite
By JUSTIN PRITCHARD
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Negotiators trying to resolve labor strife at West Coast seaports took Thursday off, as dockworkers rallied against employers they say are trying to exploit a crisis of cargo congestion at harbors that handle about $1 trillion worth of goods annually.
Earlier this mont,h a federal mediator intervened in contract bargaining that began eight months ago but by fall had deteriorated into a blame game as goods languished on docks.
Longshoremen have been working without a contract since the previous one expired in July.
The companies operating port terminals assert that workers have slowed the rate at which they process containers brought from Asia aboard massive ships, adding to gridlock as mountains of imports dwell on dockside yards.
FULL story at link.
In this Jan. 14, 2015 photo, Bobby Olvera, Jr., president of the union's Local 13 branch, tours an unusually quiet dock at the Port of Los Angeles. Port Negotiators trying to resolve labor strife at West Coast seaports took Thursday, Jan 22, 2015, off, as dockworkers gathered to rally against employers they say are trying to exploit a crisis of cargo congestion at harbors that handle about $1 trillion worth of goods annually. Earlier this month a federal mediator intervened in contract bargaining that began eight months ago but by fall had deteriorated into a blame game, as goods languished on docks. Longshoremen have been working without a contract since the previous one expired in July. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20150123/us--port_labor-cb379db1ee.html
