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West Coast port employers reach deal with workers

US West Coast longshoremen and port employers on Saturday reached a six-year contract deal, bringing to an end a bitter dispute that led to a 10-day shutdown of the docks that handle more than half of US trade.

The deal between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association, which represents port employers, includes provisions both sides were seeking. Employers got the go-ahead to introduce labor-saving technology on the docks while the 10,500-member union gained wage and pension increases.

Both sides had planned a news conference for yesterday morning to discuss the agreement.

"The fact that it is for six years provides stability for the nation," Hurtgen said. "We don't have to worry about shutdowns and slowdowns at the ports."

The 10-day lockout by the employers in September and last month, for example, paralyzed billions of dollars worth of US trade, and forced the George W. Bush administration to invoke the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act to get the ports back in business.

"I am very pleased that labor and management have reached an agreement concerning the West Coast ports," Bush said in a statement released by the White House.

One of the keys to the agreement was a deal on new technology -- such as computerized cargo-handling machinery -- that employers say was needed to make the ports along the coast more efficient.

Federal Mediator Hurtgen said the deal allows the shippers to go ahead with new technology, which will lead to an estimated 400-500 job losses, but gives the union control over remaining positions or any new ones created from technology.

The union said the agreement also includes key components it was seeking such as increased wages and pension benefits.

Union leaders called on longshoremen to ratify the proposed deal when it goes up for a vote among dock workers.

"We feel positive about the agreement," union chief James Spinosa said. "It has been a long battle."
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