Judge Approves Bush Request to Open West Coast Ports

Home>>World

Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, October 09, 2002

Judge Approves Bush Request to Open West Coast Ports

A federal judge approved President George W. Bush's request to reopen West Coast ports, ending a caustic 10-day labor lockout that has cost the fragile U.S. economy $1 billion to $2 billion a day.

DISCUSSION

CHINESE

SEND TO FRIEND

A federal judge approved President George W. Bush's request to reopen West Coast ports, ending a caustic 10-day labor lockout that has cost the fragile U.S. economy $1 billion to $2 billion a day.

Three hours after Justice Department officials filed the request in federal court, Judge William Alsup ruled the government had proven use of the Taft-Hartley Act was necessary to stop the lockout's impact on the economy.

"It is abundantly clear that the present lockout ... affects entire industries," Alsup said. "Docks are rotting with perishables."

The judge issued a temporary restraining order that expires Oct. 16, when both sides will return to court to discuss whether Alsup should impose an 80-day cooling-off period as mandated by Taft-Hartley, an act passed in 1947 which allows presidential intervention.

Union vice president Bob McEllrath said he expects dockworkers to return to their jobs Wednesday evening.

"This dispute between management and labor cannot be allowed to further harm the economy and force thousands of working Americans from their jobs," Bush said in a hastily arranged announcement earlier Tuesday.

Bush's politically charged decision made him the first president in a quarter-century to intervene in a labor dispute with Taft-Hartley. His speech coincided with an announcement by the dockworkers' union agreeing to an eleventh-hour truce to return to work for 30 days under terms of the expired contract.

But the Pacific Maritime Association, which represents shipping companies and terminal operators, rejected the deal and forced the Bush administration to seek the court's help. The association insisted on a 90-day extension.

"They wanted to Taft-Hartley the union all along," said union spokesman Steve Stallone. "All along, they wanted the government to come in and solve the problem for them."

The Bush administration denied it took sides.

Association officials applauded Bush's move. "We have to got to get this behind us," association president Joseph Miniace said.

The petition, signed by five Bush Cabinet secretaries, asked the court to require work at the ports to "resume at a normal pace." Shipping companies locked out dockworkers after accusing them of a slowdown that was hurting productivity. The union said it was strictly following safety and health regulations.

In supporting documents, Commerce Secretary Don Evans said that if allowed to continue, the work stoppage "would have a significant negative effect on the U.S. economic recovery and would lead to a decline in the rate of growth."

Transportation Secretary Norm Mineta noted that "more than $12 billion in goods and services that would otherwise have found their way into the U.S. economy from the West Coast ports could not do so."

The most often-cited study estimates total harm to the economy at between $1 billion and $2 billion a day. The study, prepared for the association by Martin Associates of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, estimated the cost of a five-day work stoppage at $4.7 billion and a 10-day stoppage at $19 billion.

A court-ordered truce would keep the ports open during the crucial Christmas season, when retailers rely on imported goods to stock their shelves.

White House advisers welcomed the chance to deflect questions about Bush's economic policies, which have either stalled in the Senate or have failed to jump-start the economy. Now he has an economic cause to promote.

Bush's intervention is also expected to energize organized labor, traditionally a Democratic ally, just four weeks before midterm elections. Democratic candidates depend on heavy turnout from union workers, and some presidential advisers fear Bush's intervention will drive angry labor voters to the polls.

Organized labor considers Taft-Hartley an anti-union mechanism for resolving disputes.

"No president has ever been on this side of management this overtly," said Richard Trumka, secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO.

Hopes for an end to the standoff soothed investors Tuesday, prompting them to buy stocks and give the market its first advance in five sessions. The Dow Jones index closed up 78 points.

Bush encouraged the two sides to settle their differences.

"I expect both sides to put the concerns of our national health and safety first and work in good faith to resolve their differences as quickly as possible," Bush said.

Bush sought a court order after an inquiry board handpicked by the White House reported the standoff was unlikely to end soon.

Courts have denied such requests just twice before. In 1978, a court refused President Carter's request for an 80-day cooling-off period in a coal miner's strike, but ordered miners back to work under a temporary restraining order. In 1971, a court refused to intervene in a labor dispute involving 200 grain elevator employees.

Workers may need as long as 10 weeks to clear the backlog of goods caused by the port shutdown. Ships carrying food and other perishables will be unloaded first when dockworkers return.

"Certainly it takes longer to unclog it than to clog it," PMA spokesman John Pachtner said.

Source: agencies

Questions?Comments? Click here

US Ports Lockout Hurt Sino-US Bilateral Trade

Developer Plans to Raise Titanic in Shanghai ( 2 Messages)

Fewer Slogans, More Practical, Reflect Social Changes in China ( 3 Messages)

China Opposes US Congress Committee's Interference in China's Internal Affairs ( 2 Messages)

Multinationals Fight for Chinese Markets ( 2 Messages)