West Coast dockworkers and shipping companies reached a tentative agreement on "key issues" of a labor dispute that led to a 10-day lockout at 29 ports in California, Oregon and Washington.
The agreement focuses on the introduction of labor-saving equipment at the ports and the union's control of clerk jobs, federal mediator Peter Hurtgen said in a faxed statement. Other issues, including pensions, are unresolved, he said.
US West Coast ports opened on Oct. 9 after a federal judge ordered an end to the lockout of about 10,500 dockworkers that left millions of pounds of food, toys and car parts on docks. West Coast ports handle about US$300 billion of trade a year, including imports from Asia for US retailers and manufacturers.
``The West Coast docks are the choke point of the global economy,'' said Stephen Cohen, regional planning professor at the University of California at Berkeley. "An agreement between the two parties that gets the docks open is a prerequisite for the healthy functioning of the economy."
Both sides will meet at 4pm local time at the Park Hyatt hotel in San Francisco for more talks, said Jeremy Prillwitz, a spokesman for the International Longshore and Warehouse Union.
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