Catherwood LibraryILR School

As the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) continue to square off over allegations of union slowdowns in the midst of an imposed and uneasy truce (see WIT's for October 9 and 15, 2002), mediators are preparing to bring both sides back to the negotiating table. Mediators for the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service could begin touring West Coast Ports today in order to gain a greater insight on the realities of the issues involved in the dispute, and are expected to finish in advance of restarting talks later this week. Meanwhile, ILWU officials have acknowledged that little progress has been made on a backlog of over 200 container vessels and enormous amounts of cargo---citing logistics problems including a lack of empty trucks to remove cargo from clogged docks, and no easy solutions for emptying trucks with cargo destined for ships that left port during the lockout, as reasons for the pile-up.