US ports, union continue talks past strike deadline
Contract negotiations over wages and benefits between clerical union workers and management at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the busiest in the United States, continued past a strike deadline that expired at midnight on Sunday.
'They're working very hard,' said International Longshore and Warehouse Union spokesman Craig Merrilees. 'They were working all night, and continue to hammer out details.'
The Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex handles more than 40 per cent of the country's imports.
The Port of Los Angeles, located 32km south of the city, is the world's 10th largest. It receives about 190 million tonnes of cargo per year.
Combined with the neighbouring port of Long Beach, operations there are the fifth-busiest in the world.
'The Los Angeles, San Pedro and Long Beach communities depend a lot on these jobs,' Mr Merrilees said.
The clerks' six-year contract expired on July1. Clerical union workers handle port documents related to receiving, sorting and inspections of cargo, among other work.
Local 63, a division of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, represents about 930 clerical workers.
Jim McKenna, president of the Pacific Maritime Association, said the clerks earn about US$78,000 a year, 'by far probably the highest-paid clerical union in the country'. He said the union was asking for a 60 per cent pay increase.
'There's a pretty generous offer on the table right now from the employer side,' said Mr McKenna, whose Longshoremen's union is not directly involved in talks. 'I think it's about a 15 per cent increase.'
Earlier on Monday, the office clerical unit of Local 63 said it would submit a revised proposal to the employers, the Associated Press reported.
John Fageaux Jr, president of Local 63, did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
Stephen Berry, a partner with law firm Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker LLP, and co-lead negotiator for the 14 marine terminal operators and other firms who employ the office clerks, also could not be reached for comment.
Rachel Campbell, a port spokeswoman, said operations continued on Monday without any disruptions.
The Longshoremen's union has said it would strike in solidarity with Local 63 if talks fail.
The association represents some of the 14 marine-terminal operators and shipping companies in the talks.
'I'm not sitting in the room,' Mr McKenna said. 'But folks are optimistic that resolve can be reached without any work disruption.'
There are seven major terminals and several smaller facilities at the Port of Long Beach handling about US$100 billion worth of trade a year, said Art Wong, a spokesman for the Port of Long Beach.
The port's top trading partners are China, Japan and Taiwan.
The value of Chinese goods handled at the port last year, for example, was about US$104 billion, according to the port's website.
A 10-day strike at West Coast ports in 2002 cost the US economy about US$1 billion a day.
'They're working very hard,' said International Longshore and Warehouse Union spokesman Craig Merrilees. 'They were working all night, and continue to hammer out details.'
The Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex handles more than 40 per cent of the country's imports.
The Port of Los Angeles, located 32km south of the city, is the world's 10th largest. It receives about 190 million tonnes of cargo per year.
Combined with the neighbouring port of Long Beach, operations there are the fifth-busiest in the world.
'The Los Angeles, San Pedro and Long Beach communities depend a lot on these jobs,' Mr Merrilees said.
The clerks' six-year contract expired on July1. Clerical union workers handle port documents related to receiving, sorting and inspections of cargo, among other work.
Local 63, a division of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, represents about 930 clerical workers.
Jim McKenna, president of the Pacific Maritime Association, said the clerks earn about US$78,000 a year, 'by far probably the highest-paid clerical union in the country'. He said the union was asking for a 60 per cent pay increase.
'There's a pretty generous offer on the table right now from the employer side,' said Mr McKenna, whose Longshoremen's union is not directly involved in talks. 'I think it's about a 15 per cent increase.'
Earlier on Monday, the office clerical unit of Local 63 said it would submit a revised proposal to the employers, the Associated Press reported.
John Fageaux Jr, president of Local 63, did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
Stephen Berry, a partner with law firm Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker LLP, and co-lead negotiator for the 14 marine terminal operators and other firms who employ the office clerks, also could not be reached for comment.
Rachel Campbell, a port spokeswoman, said operations continued on Monday without any disruptions.
The Longshoremen's union has said it would strike in solidarity with Local 63 if talks fail.
The association represents some of the 14 marine-terminal operators and shipping companies in the talks.
'I'm not sitting in the room,' Mr McKenna said. 'But folks are optimistic that resolve can be reached without any work disruption.'
There are seven major terminals and several smaller facilities at the Port of Long Beach handling about US$100 billion worth of trade a year, said Art Wong, a spokesman for the Port of Long Beach.
The port's top trading partners are China, Japan and Taiwan.
The value of Chinese goods handled at the port last year, for example, was about US$104 billion, according to the port's website.
A 10-day strike at West Coast ports in 2002 cost the US economy about US$1 billion a day.