Bush considers action in port dispute
Talks between dockworkers and shippers drag on
Saturday, October 5, 2002 Posted: 9:41 PM EDT (0141 GMT)
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush was considering whether to intervene
in the dispute between West Coast dockworkers and shippers that closed
28 ports September 27, sources close to the administration told CNN Saturday.
The two sides talked overnight and into Saturday. Sources inside the
negotiations in Long Beach, California, described progress as slow but
that it was a positive sign the two sides were still talking.
The sources close to the administration said Bush was considering
whether to invoke the Taft-Hartley Act, a move that could send the
dockworkers back to work under an 80-day injunction.
The act, passed in 1947 over President Truman's veto, gives the president
the authority to appoint a board of inquiry. It would prepare a report
-- with no recommendations -- on the issues involved in the negotiations
and the economic costs of the ports' shutdown.
If the president determines a continued lockout would "imperil the
national health or safety," he could order the attorney general to
seek the injunction in federal court.
For now, the White House's official position was articulated by
press secretary Ari Fleischer with this message from Bush to b
oth sides: "You're hurting the economy, you are hurting your fellow
workers and unions in other parts of the country whose jobs depend
on the products you ship."
"The president's message to labor and management is,
'Go back to work and resolve the problems,'" Fleischer said.
At the heart of the dispute is who will control 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
to track the flow of containers being loaded onto and off ships.
The shipping companies, represented by the Pacific Maritime Association,
want to remove the clerical positions from union control.
"You're hurting the economy, you are hurting your fellow workers
and unions in other parts of the country whose jobs depend on
the products you ship."
-- White House press secretary Ari Fleischer
On Friday, dockworkers loaded a ship at the Port of Tacoma, Washington,
with essential supplies under an agreement designed to ease shortages
in Alaska, the PMA said.
The agreement came in response to a request from Alaska Gov. Tony Knowles,
who cited the short supply of food and other essential products in
his state. The ship left port late Friday night.
The two sides were considering a similar agreement for Hawaii,
which faces a like situation.
As part of the agreement, the ILWU promised the union would not
engage in slowdowns.
It was accusations of slowdowns by dockworkers that prompted the
PMA to lock 10,500 ILWU workers out of the 28 West Coast ports September 27.
The PMA 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 engaged in slowdowns.
As the lockout continued, the PMA was running out of space to
anchor ships entering ports. At the Port of Long Beach, 93 ships
were stuck at port or at anchorages farther out to sea.
Officials said it would take at least a month to clear the
backlog caused by the port shutdown, even if the ports were to
reopen Sunday or Monday.
CNN correspondents Casey Wian and Suzanne Malveaux contributed
to this report.
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