Strike won’t last when the elite can’t get their new Lexus.
Via ADN
Seaports in major West Coast cities that normally are abuzz with the sound of commerce are falling unusually quiet.
Companies that operate marine terminals said they weren’t calling workers to unload ships Thursday that carry car parts, furniture, clothing, electronics — just about anything made in Asia and destined for U.S. consumers. Containers of U.S. exports won’t get loaded either.
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.
The 15 ships scheduled to arrive Thursday — a holiday for Lincoln’s Birthday — at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, by far the nation’s largest complex, will join a trail of about 20 others anchored off the coast, waiting for berths at the docks to clear. There are clusters of ships outside the ports of Oakland, and Seattle and Tacoma in Washington.[…]
Talks have stalled over how to arbitrate future workplace disputes. Some of the biggest issues, including health care, have been resolved with tentative agreements.
In response to employers’ decision to limit work crews, announced Wednesday, the union noted that longshoremen also were not hired to load or unload vessels last weekend.
“The union is standing by ready to negotiate, as we have been for the past several days,” union President Robert McEllrath said in a written statement. He suggested the maritime association is “trying to sabotage negotiations.”