USA: LOCKOUT OF LONGSHOREMEN ENDS AT PORTS ALONG WEST COAST AS PRESIDENT GEORGE W BUSH INVOKES THE TAFT-HARTLEY ACT
Record ID:
649266
USA: LOCKOUT OF LONGSHOREMEN ENDS AT PORTS ALONG WEST COAST AS PRESIDENT GEORGE W BUSH INVOKES THE TAFT-HARTLEY ACT
- Title: USA: LOCKOUT OF LONGSHOREMEN ENDS AT PORTS ALONG WEST COAST AS PRESIDENT GEORGE W BUSH INVOKES THE TAFT-HARTLEY ACT
- Date: 11th October 2002
- Summary: (W2) LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (OCTOBER 9, 2002) (REUTERS) 1. SLV PAN CONTAINER SHIPS AT ANCHOR OUTSIDE PORT OF LONG BEACH; SLV OIL TANKER SHIPS AT ANCHOR OUTSIDE PORT OF LONG BEACH; SLV CRANE AT DOCKSIDE (3 SHOTS) 0.26 (W2) LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (OCTOBER 9, 2002) (REUTERS) 2. SLV PAN CROWD GATHERED FOR LONGSHOREMAN'S UNION NEWS CONFERENCE 0.34 3. (SOUNDBITE) (English) REVERAND JESSE JACKSON SAYING: "Today, we should prepare to march back to work, but also to march on the polls, to march around the nation. Mr. Bush has not met with organized labour." 0.47 4. MV /SCU LONGSHOREMEN CHANTING "AMERICAN WORKERS MATTER"; LONGSHOREMEN CLAPPING 1.02 5. (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNION LEADER, RAMON PONCE DE LEON, SAYING "Today, we're going to start work at a very congested terminal, many vessels fully loaded and rails backed up beyond the state line. Therefore, we first must think of our safety as we enter these docks and we first must ask the Almighty to give us his blessing." 1.25 6. MV LONGSHOREMEN CLAPPING 1.31 7. (SOUNDBITE) (English) REVERAND JESSE JACKSON SAYING "Bush focusing on Saddam rather than on the economy is diversion. We must focus on the plight of the American worker. When we focus on the sky is falling and Saddam is coming, we've lost eight trillion dollars in stock value the last two years." 1.55 8. MV LONGSHOREMEN LISTENING TO SPEECHES 2.00 9. (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNION MEMBER, RICARDO JACOBELLY, SAYING "We're glad to go to work. We're happy but we're very disappointed that the government and President Bush has entered into these talks and has turned the screws to the union people, and has intervened in union politics, and have taken away what we have normally and rightfully have done and that is negotiate a contract with our employers." 2.26 10. SLV LINE OF LONGSHOREMEN IN THEIR CARS ENTERING WORK 14. SLV LONGSHOREMAN ENTERING PARKING LOT TO GO TO WORK; SLV TRUCKS ENTERING PORT TO PICK UP GOODS; MV LONGSHOREMEN WALKING THROUGH GATE TO GO TO WORK; MV LONGSHOREMEN TALKING WITH SECURITY GUARDS AS THEY GO TO WORK; MV LONGSHOREMEN WALKING THROUGH GATE TO GO TO WORK (6 SHOTS) 3.48 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 26th October 2002 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: LOS ANGELES AND LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
- City:
- Country: USA
- Reuters ID: LVA3FL5Z3J5EOJDMU13K6ZGIU8TC
- Story Text: The lockout of longshoremen has ended at ports along
the west coast of the United States. President George W. Bush
invoked the Taft-Hartley Act, sending the longshoremen back to
work for 80 days. However, the contract negotiations remain at
a stalemate.
Ports up and down the U.S. West Coast rumbled back into
action on Wednesday (October 9) after President Bush stepped
in to stop a management lockout which has cost the U.S.
economy billions of dollars. The Pacific Maritime Association,
which represents employers at 29 West Coast ports from San
Diego to Seattle, was ordered to reopen dock facilities after
President Bush invoked the Taft-Hartley Act to impose an
80-day cooling off period.
Port management officials said the ports -- which handle
$300 billion of trade annually -- would gradually resume
operations. It could take six to seven weeks to clear the
backlog of cargo, which has been piling up just at the start
of the crucial U.S. holiday shopping season. But union
officials have said that the huge backlog in cargo following
the almost 10-day lockout had created congested conditions
that might threaten worker safety -- hinting that "slow downs"
might occur as longshoremen go back to work. Some 200 ships
carrying everything from auto parts, to plastic toys, to
frozen food were sitting lined up off West Coast ports waiting
to take on or unload cargo held up by the labour dispute.
Before the longshoremen went back to work, their union
leaders held a defiant news conference. Among the speakers was
civil rights activist Reverand Jesse Jackson.
"Today, we should prepare to march back to work, but also
to march on the polls, to march around the nation. Mr. Bush
has not met with organized labour," Jackson said, urging
longshoremen to punish the President's party at the polls
November 5th.
Union leaders echoed Jackson's message and claimed their
members always wanted to work, but were unfairly locked out.
"Today we're going to start work at a very congested
terminal, many vessels fully loaded and rails backed up beyond
the state line. Therefore, we first must think of our safety
as we enter these docks and we first must ask the Almighty to
give us his blessing," union leader Ramon Ponce de Leon said.
Union rank and file members, who have not been paid during
the lockout, said the end of the action represents a mixed
blessing.
"We're glad to go to work. We're happy, but we're very
disappointed that the government and President Bush has
entered into these talks and has turned the screws to the
union people, and has intervened in union politics, and have
taken away what we have normally and rightfully have done and
that is negotiate a contract with our employers," union member
Ricardo Jacobelly said.
The Pacific Maritme Association and the International
Longshoremen and Warehousemen's Union are at odds over
technological advances that could eliminate union jobs.
Negotiations between the two will continue, but the port
lockdown could resume if they emerge from the 80-day hiatus
without a firm contract agreement.
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