West Coast shippers
and longshoremen return
to the negotiating table

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By Justin Pritchard
Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO >> With billions of dollars in trade at stake, shipping companies and West Coast dock workers negotiated through a contract expiration deadline yesterday and both sides reiterated promises not to force an immediate labor disruption.

Federal officials and businesses across the country fear the economic impact of a strike or lockout, either of which would cut off the flow of goods that enter the nation's 29 major Pacific ports and move to store shelves across the nation.

The union representing 10,500 longshoremen who work the docks has not voted to authorize a strike. The shippers' association, meanwhile, has promised not to lock out the dock workers -- unless they stage a work slowdown.

"We have an enormous responsibility to negotiate an agreement without any work interruption on the waterfront," said Joseph Miniace, president of the Pacific Maritime Association.

The contract expired at 2 p.m. HST yesterday -- 10 minutes before that deadline, the two sides reconvened at their San Francisco bargaining table for the first time since Saturday.

Negotiations on a new contract for about 480 dockworkers in Hawaii began Friday, with Sunday marking the last day of their contract.

Hawaii dockworkers traditionally have followed the lead of their West Coast colleagues.

The three-year contract between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the shippers' association covers all America's major Pacific ports, from San Diego to Seattle. Last year, longshoremen handled $260 billion in cargo, according to the association.

With the association expecting that value to double as trade with Asia surges over the next decade, West Coast ports are a linchpin of the nation's economic prosperity. A shutdown would send a shiver through the economy, especially since many holiday-time products are imported over the summer and ever-leaner U.S. firms have slimmed inventories to keep costs down.

"Hopefully, they realize the national implications of the dispute," said Lawrence Fineran, a vice president at the Washington-based National Association of Manufacturers, which has sent letters of concern to the White House and several cabinet departments.

With so much at stake, the White House has said it's watching, and federal lawmakers have petitioned both sides to keep the ports open.

Even were one side to quit negotiations, under federal law President Bush can block a strike and impose an 80-day cooling-off period. The Labor Department, which has a representative at the discussions, declined comment yesterday.

The union spent yesterday preparing a counter proposal to shippers' Saturday offer, a package that a union spokesman described as "an offer that was designed to be rejected."

"First they offered us nothing but cutbacks" in benefits and pensions, said union spokesman Steve Stallone. "Now they're offering us peanuts. That's how much it's moved."

Negotiations have stalled over benefits and how to bring new technology to the ports, according to both sides.

Shippers say they need to automate the ports to compete. Union leaders say they're not against modernization -- as long as new technology doesn't take the place of manpower.

"Ever since computers were brought to the docks, they've tried to outsource our jobs," said spokesman Steve Stallone.

Shippers promise that modernization isn't a code word for layoffs and promise that no union job will be lost.