President George W. Bush may ask US West Coast ports to be reopened after talks between shipping companies and dockworkers broke off without agreement, the head of the group representing shipping lines said.
"I think Taft-Hartley is imminent," said Joseph Miniace, chief executive of the Pacific Maritime Association, referring to the federal act Bush can use to order that ports remain open for 80 days. A fact-finding board that helps with the Taft-Hartley process has already arrived in San Francisco, site of the contract talks, Miniace said.
The 1947 act gives the president powers to ask a judge to order a ``cooling off'' period because of a national emergency, including the country's economic health. Manufacturers and retailers have called on Bush to intervene and force the ports to reopen. The docks in the states of California, Oregon and Washington handle about US$300 billion of cargo annually.
The shippers' association closed down 29 ports Sept. 27 after accusing the dockworkers union of engaging in work slowdowns. The International Longshore and Warehouse Union, which represents 10,500 dockworkers, and the association had been negotiating with the help of a federal mediator since Thursday.
Mediator Peter Hurtgen said it's likely the government will invoke the Taft-Hartley act. ILWU President James Spinosa said the union would be ``going back to the drawing board.'' Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer on Saturday said the president's message to the negotiators was simple: they were damaging the economy. "You are hurting other workers and unions across the country," he said.
Miniace said it could take as many as six or seven weeks to clear cargo backlogs once work resumes at the ports.
The West Coast Waterfront Coalition, whose members include Wal-Mart Stores Inc, the world's largest retailer, and other big importers, had asked Bush to "take whatever steps are necessary," to reopen the ports. Bush "has called on both parties to work to resolve the matter," White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said yesterday.
The union and the carriers' association, whose members include AP Moeller Group's Maersk Sealand unit and Neptune Orient Lines Ltd's APL Ltd, had been negotiating a new contract since May.
The key issue dividing them was the shipping lines' wish to use more computers and scanners to perform jobs now done by union members.
The full bargaining committees of the ILWU and association met Sunday night, breaking off shortly before midnight because of a stalemate. Miniace said the association balked at the union's final offer on the technology issue, which would have resulted in the labor group adding more than 100 new workers to its membership.
He said the association offered to extend the existing contract by 90 days and to also increase the annual pension plan benefit to US$50,000 from US$40,000. It also offered to prevent any job loss from technological improvements.
That offer was rejected, said Steve Sugerman, a spokesman for the shipping group. "We thought that common sense would prevail," Sugerman said.
An offer to extend the contract seven days was rejected by the shipping group, Spinosa said.
About 200 ships are stranded at the ports as of yesterday. In Los Angeles and Long Beach, the two largest US ports, about 120 ships were waiting to unload cargo with 13 more due soon, said Richard Carter, a spokesman for the Marine Exchange in Los Angeles.
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