SAN FRANCISCO -- A frail labor peace between shipping lines and West Coast longshoreman collapsed Sunday when workers were ordered off their jobs indefinitely.þþThe Pacific Maritime Association, which represents the shipping lines, said it would bar workers from the docks until the union agrees to extend a lapsed contract while talks toward a new agreement continue.þþWest Coast ports handled more than $300 billion in cargo over the past year. Continued labor unrest could cost the U.S. economy an estimated $1 billion a day.þþÿThey're just doing whatever they're doing,ÿ said Steve Stallone, a spokesman for the International Longshore and Warehouse Union.þþAssociation president Joseph Miniace called Sunday's action a ÿdefensive shutdownÿ that came less than 12 hours after longshoremen returned to the docks at the 29 major Pacific ports.þþShipping lines imposed a lockout Friday immediately after talks broke down. That lockout was lifted, then reimposed after the association accused the union of understaffing operations and dispatching unskilled workers.þþShipping lines said productivity fell ÿoff the cliffÿ Sunday.þþIn the 36 hours the docks were closed, about 30 ships had to moor outside berths at ports in Los Angeles, Oakland, and Seattle and Tacoma, Wash.þþThat meant hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Pacific Rim trade was not entering the U.S. distribution chain, a blow to importers who are scrambling to secure goods for the holiday season. At the same time, exporters feared a prolonged disruption would see their goods stuck on the docks.þþMiniace appealed for a federal mediator.þþThe union has accused the Bush administration of meddling in talks that began in May.þþOn Sunday, it was clear that the association's first lockout, what it termed a ÿcooling-off period,ÿ hadn't brought peace to the waterfront.þþEarlier in the bargaining, there were signs of progress over benefits and pensions packages. But the talks began deteriorating during the summer, and they crumbled this week over the question of how to implement new technology.þþ
Source: Chicago Tribune
