Agreement Reached to End Labor Dispute in US Western Ports

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, November 25, 2002

Agreement Reached to End Labor Dispute in US Western Ports

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Union dockworkers and shipping companies in the west coast of the United States reached a tentative six-year agreement early Sunday to end a protracted labor dispute that had cost the economy billions of dollars last month.

The deal was reached in San Francisco, California, between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the PacificMaritime Association (PMA) under the mediation of federal mediator Peter Hurtgen.

The two sides struck the temporary deal early this month to remove the outstanding dispute over future application of advancedcargo-handling technologies and how to distribute the new jobs created.

Hurtgen, head of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, praised both sides for demonstrating "statesman like leadership, which made this agreement possible." But he declined to offer details of the tentative agreement, which he hailed as "historic."

He said the deal will substantially increase wages and benefits for union dockworkers while providing necessary dispute-resolutionimprovements needed to ensure that America's west coast ports continue to modernize and increase both efficiency and productivity.

The agreement still has to be approved by a majority of the 10,500 members of the ILWU in a vote likely to take place after the Thanksgiving holiday, Hurtgen said.

President George W. Bush, who ordered the federal intervention early last month in the dispute, hailed the agreement as "good forworkers, good for employers and it's good for the American economy."

For about two weeks from late September to early October, the PMA locked out dockworkers at 29 major Pacific ports, after the two sides failed to reach a deal after months of negotiations on renewing a labor contract that already expired in July.

The lockout was estimated to cost the US economy about 1 billion dollars per day. President Bush later invoked a federal law to demand the reopening of the ports pending an 80-day cool-off period, in which the two sides must resume talks to clinch a deal.

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