Background: Shutting Down West Coast Docks

SPENCER MICHELS:

To gaze upon San Francisco Bay these days is to see firsthand one effect of the closure of West Coast ports. From the choppy waters of the bay, more than a dozen container ships can be seen riding at anchor, with more off Los Angeles and Seattle. Their cargoes, some of it perishable, mostly from Asia and South America, remain on board. And on land at the port of Oakland and elsewhere, the containers with West Coast produce bound for Asia and other goods sit stacked and immobile. Giant cranes, the inspiration for the fierce imperial walkers in George Lucas' movie "The Empire Strikes Back," remain motionless.

Their operators are off work, locked out of the ports by shipping owners who accuse dock workers of slowing down on the job. With nothing moving in or out of the 29 West Coast ports, economists are predicting serious consequences, not just in the United States, but abroad in countries that trade with America.

Last year, $300 billion in cargo passed through these ports. Late last night, the West Coast's only auto plant, operated by General Motors and Toyota, shut down its assembly line. The factory is dependent on shipping for most of its parts, many of which are on the docks or on unloaded ships. The more than 5,000 workers will not be laid off, at least not yet.

Meanwhile, West Coast agriculture, which ships much of its produce to Asia, was beginning to hurt. Growers in Washington State are worried about keeping apples refrigerated. One third of the crop, $60 million worth, is sold overseas. Hay farmers are concerned they will run out of space to store their product. Almond growers in California don't know where to put all the nuts they were harvesting. And retail outlets getting ready for the Christmas buying season were not sure where they would get the goods to stock their shelves, since many of them come from the Far East.

If the lockout, or a strike, continues, predictions are that thousands of businesses as well as consumers would feel the effects fairly soon. The current lockout began on Sunday, with management– the shipping company's Pacific Maritime Association– saying it would not keep the ports open. In response, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union set up picket lines at berths and piers from San Diego to Seattle, and the pickets have been there ever since. And so have the locks on the gates leading to the docks.

The contract between the 10,500- member union and the 87 shippers expired July 1, but work continued on a day-to-day basis while both sides attempted to negotiate a new agreement. The most contentious issue has been the introduction of new technology, like bar code readers and use of the Internet– technologies that could replace union marine clerks who keep track of cargo as it moves from point to point. At least one management spokesman thinks that negotiations can continue and succeed.

BILL NILAND, Pacific Maritime Association:

We know that we've got a lot of tough negotiations items to get through, but we hope those will occur away from the job, and that we won't have continued job action. We're hanging up on the issue of technology and we're hanging up on the issue of an arbitration process, but we've got some pretty good language, we've gotten closer in the last few weeks, and hope that we can finish it up soon. We know this is important to the country.

SPENCER MICHELS:

But that optimism isn't shared by all. Union business agent Jack Heyman accuses the shippers of using the dispute over technology to wound the union.

JACK HEYMAN, International Longshore & Warehouse Union: I think that what the employers are attempting to do with the technology issue is to, number one, undermine our hiring hall, which is a source of our strength; number two, eliminate a lot of jobs, and in return, they're not willing to give us the new jobs that come from technology.

SPENCER MICHELS:

Negotiations have been on and off with the latest blowup coming Tuesday, when union reps stormed out accusing management of arriving with armed guards. Despite the rancor, today a federal mediator brought both sides back to the table to talk about technology. The aim is to end the lockout and prevent the first West Coast dock strike in 31 years.