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Resumption of Work at US West Coast Ports

Posted October. 09, 2002 22:54,   

On Oct. 8th, a US federal court ordered West Coast ports to resume normal operations, following the intervention of US President George W. Bush.

Accordingly, the shutdown of the ports, which has been continued since Sep. 29th, will enter into another phase. Under the order, the management and the labor have to maintain the normal operation while negotiating for a compromise.

U.S. DISTRICT JUDGE William Alsup in San Francisco ruled in favor of President Bush’s request that a cooling-off period of 80 days should be necessary pursuant to the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act. After reviewing the submitted documents, Judge Alsup issued a temporary restraining order, directing both sides of the lockout to immediately resume the operation on the ports.

The judge held, “It is abundantly clear that the present lockout affects entire industries.” His temporary restraining order expires on Oct. 16, when both sides will return to court to discuss whether should impose an 80-day cooling-off period as mandated by Taft-Hartley.

President Bush requested for the involvement of a federal court, saying, “The work stoppage at the ports is taking workers from their jobs. It should not hurt the economy any more.” This is the first time since 1978 that a US president got involved in a labor strike under the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act.

President Bush got himself involved in this dispute, worrying that the lockout of the western ports, which is estimated to cost US economy 1-2 billion dollar a day, would severely hurt the economy. But in the upcoming mid-term elections scheduled for Nov. 5th, he may lose some labor votes.

Richard Trumca, director of the US AFL-CIO, criticized, “No president in the history has ever protected the management so obviously.” But, manufacturers, who have suffered from the lockout in importation and exportation, welcomed the action of President Bush. In the meanwhile, what US government has really worried about are the logistics problems the strikeout might cause. If it lockout should not be solved in the near future and a war against Iraq breaks out, the government would face difficulties in sending military supplies from the western ports via the Panama Canal.

US media predict that the resumption will take effect as of Oct. 9th. But it would take 6-10 weeks only to take care of the delayed shipments waiting off the western coast.

The two sides have been at loggerheads over the introduction of new technology that port operators say is needed to improve productivity.

The Pacific Maritime Association, which consists of the port operators and marine corporations, shut down the ports on Sep. 29th when the labor union slowed down the process, citing the safety rules.



Ki-Heung Han eligius@donga.com