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Port talks on as ships idle off West CoastShutdown effects beginning to ripple across country
NEW YORK (CNN) -- Management officials and the union representing West Coast dockworkers will resume negotiations Thursday to try to break a deadlock that has closed West Coast ports, federal mediators announced late Wednesday. The time and place for the negotiations was not yet decided. Talks broke off Tuesday when representatives of the Pacific Maritime Association, the management group that represents major shipping lines and terminal operators at all 28 West Coast ports, arrived at the session escorted by armed security guards. Union officials stormed out, canceling talks for Tuesday and Wednesday and calling the security detail "armed thugs." The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Services, a neutral service offered by the federal government, will oversee Thursday's talks. The service's director, Peter Hurtgen, has already been meeting with both sides in the dispute for several days. At the heart of the dispute is the control of new jobs evolving out of improvements in technology used on the waterfront. The International Longshore and Warehouse Union wants its shipping clerks trained to use new computerized equipment for the tracking of containers on and off ships. The shipping companies hope to phase out these clerical positions as union-controlled jobs. Business groups are becoming anxious about the work stoppage that has essentially choked off trade between the United States and Asia and is costing the U.S. economy an estimated $1 billion a day. Several business groups have written to the White House asking President Bush to "use all means necessary" to get the two sides back to work as soon as possible. Business leaders say this is the worst time of year for such a shutdown because products are being imported now for the Christmas shopping season. Auto plants idlingOn Wednesday, the first major U.S. factory reported it would shut down because of a lack of parts caused by the work stoppage. New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. -- a joint venture between Toyota Motor and General Motors in Fremont, California, and the largest importer in the port of Oakland -- said it was ceasing operations Wednesday night. About 5,000 people work at the plant, which makes the Pontiac Vibe compact car, Toyota Tacoma pickup trucks, and many of the Toyota Corolla cars sold in North America. One assembly line halted at 6 p.m. (9 p.m. ET), and the other line was halting hours later.
Plant spokesman Mike Damer said it was the first time the facility shut down since it opened in 1984. The plant normally imports about 30 to 40 containers a day -- holding engines, transmissions and chassis rails. But since the lockout, those containers have been sitting unopened on the Oakland docks or on ships anchored in San Francisco Bay. Nissan Motor Co. said Wednesday it would be out of parts for its Smyrna, Tennessee, plant within a few days and probably will shut down then. As much as 25 percent of its parts are imported from Japan. Overtime has been eliminated at the plant, it said, and showroom supplies of its most popular models are running as short as five days. The president has the power to order the two sides back to work for an 80-day cooling-off period. But so far, Labor Department officials have said it is too early to consider exercising those powers under the seldom-used Taft-Hartley Act. Business leaders: Use 'all means necessary'The PMA locked out the 10,500 members of the ILWU for 38 hours starting last Friday, charging that work slowdowns by the union amounted to a strike with pay. It reopened the ports briefly Sunday, then locked out the union again Sunday evening, saying the ports would not reopen unless the union agreed to work by terms of an expired contract and not participate in slowdowns. The union has continued to deny it ever engaged in slowdowns. Labor Department spokeswoman Kathleen Harrington said Wednesday the administration does not consider the mediation process as over and that it is still too early to consider using Taft-Hartley.
The International Mass Retail Association, which includes the nation's major retail chains, and the West Coast Waterfront Coalition, which represents the nation's major importers and exporters, have both called for the White House to use "all means necessary" to reopen the ports. The Farm Bureau issued a statement saying a prolonged shutdown of West Coast ports would "inflict severe harm" on the weak farm economy. Exporters of meat, poultry and hides likewise have urged presidential action. The port closings also could halt the flow of goods that retailers are shipping for the holiday shopping season. In Hawaii, which depends on ocean shipments for about 90 percent of its goods and 65 percent of its food, many consumers are stocking up on items from toilet paper to fresh milk because of shortage fears. ILWU members are among the best paid blue collar workers in the nation. PMA figures show longshoremen earned an average of $82,895 last year, clerks averaged $118,844 and foremen, who are members of the union, averaged $157,352. Almost 30 percent of union members in the longshoremen classification work less than 1,600 hours a year, equivalent to 40 hours a week for 40 weeks. Only a bit more than half work 2,000 or more hours, which is essentially full-time employment across the year. Those working 2,000 or more hours had average pay of $106,883 in 2001, according to PMA.
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