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US retailers nervous as dockworkers talks at USWC ports drag on
US RETAILERS are nervously awaiting the fallout from failed contract negotiations with the dockworker unions at the nation's busiest west coast container ports ahead of the July-September peak shipping season.
The six-year contract between dockworkers and their employers who operate the port terminals, and shipping lines expired on July 1; and there is no talk of a deal being reached anytime soon.
The labour talks affect 20,000 workers at ports that handle 40 per cent of international container shipments. It covers workers at 29 ports from California to Washington, including Los Angeles-Long Beach and Seattle-Tacoma.
Worker representatives and management said they expect box cargo to continue moving until a deal is struck, but retailers and other businesses that depend on the ports are still haunted by a costly 2002 shutdown.
"Folks are nervous about what's going to happen once the contract expires," vice president of supply chain and customs policy for the National Retail Federation (NRF) Jonathan Gold said.
This round of talks could stretch into mid-July, predicts a spokesman for the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), which represents the port employers, Wade Gates, reported Reuters.
The negotiators will keep negotiating, the workers will keep working," said a spokesman for the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), which represents most of the affected workers, Craig Merrilees.
A breakdown in negotiations resulted in a 10-day lockout at west coast ports in 2002. That stoppage was estimated to have cost the US economy US$1 billion a day, according to Mr Gold, and delayed supply chains for half a year.
The six-year contract between dockworkers and their employers who operate the port terminals, and shipping lines expired on July 1; and there is no talk of a deal being reached anytime soon.
The labour talks affect 20,000 workers at ports that handle 40 per cent of international container shipments. It covers workers at 29 ports from California to Washington, including Los Angeles-Long Beach and Seattle-Tacoma.
Worker representatives and management said they expect box cargo to continue moving until a deal is struck, but retailers and other businesses that depend on the ports are still haunted by a costly 2002 shutdown.
"Folks are nervous about what's going to happen once the contract expires," vice president of supply chain and customs policy for the National Retail Federation (NRF) Jonathan Gold said.
This round of talks could stretch into mid-July, predicts a spokesman for the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), which represents the port employers, Wade Gates, reported Reuters.
The negotiators will keep negotiating, the workers will keep working," said a spokesman for the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), which represents most of the affected workers, Craig Merrilees.
A breakdown in negotiations resulted in a 10-day lockout at west coast ports in 2002. That stoppage was estimated to have cost the US economy US$1 billion a day, according to Mr Gold, and delayed supply chains for half a year.
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