Port clerks and their employers at the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, the nation’s largest port complex, tentatively agreed on a new contract. The deal, between shippers and terminal operators and the Office Clerical Unit, Local 63, of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union came after an impasse in talks was declared late Tuesday. Under the tentative deal, the workers will receive a wage increase of 7 percent over the three-year contract. The employers also agreed to pay $3.4 million toward establishing a trust fund to manage the employees’ health and welfare and pensions plans. The 15,000-member International Longshore and Warehouse Union had indicated that longshoremen would honor picket lines if the roughly 750 clerical workers went on strike. The move could have effectively stopped the loading and unloading of cargo at the ports.þþ
Source: NY Times
