Container ships wait at the dock to be unloaded at the Port of Oakland Thursday, Feb. 12, 2015, in Oakland, Calif. Companies that operate marine terminals didn’t call workers to unload ships Thursday that carry car parts, furniture, clothing, electronics, just about anything made in Asia and destined for U.S. consumers. The partial lockout is the result of an increasingly damaging labor dispute between dockworkers and their employers. The two sides have been negotiating a new contract, and stalled talks have all but paralyzed 29 ports that handle about one-quarter of U.S. international trade, around $1 trillion worth of cargo annually. (Ben Margot/Associated Press)
Container ships wait at the dock to be unloaded at the Port of Oakland Thursday, Feb. 12, 2015, in Oakland, Calif. Companies that operate marine terminals didn’t call workers to unload ships Thursday that carry car parts, furniture, clothing, electronics, just about anything made in Asia and destined for U.S. consumers. The partial lockout is the result of an increasingly damaging labor dispute between dockworkers and their employers. The two sides have been negotiating a new contract, and stalled talks have all but paralyzed 29 ports that handle about one-quarter of U.S. international trade, around $1 trillion worth of cargo annually. (Ben Margot/Associated Press)
SAN FRANCISCO — President Barack Obama is sending his labor secretary to California to meet with both sides in a contract dispute that has affected the flow of goods from Asia into West Coast ports.
A White House spokesman, Eric Schultz, said the president is getting Secretary Tom Perez involved because of concerns about the economic consequences of further delays.
Perez’s mission is to meet with the parties and press them to quickly settle their differences at the negotiating table.
The waters off Los Angeles, Oakland and Washington state’s Puget Sound have become parking lots for dozens of ships awaiting space at the docks.
Employers are locking out dockworkers who man the cranes that lift cargo on and off ships, saying they have slowed work as a bargaining tactic.
The union denies that.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/west-coast-seaports-reopen-for-day-no-contract-breakthrough/2015/02/13/57df03e2-b3df-11e4-bf39-5560f3918d4b_story.html