It's interesting that Bush has not treated this situation so far as Reagan did the air traffic controllers. Any speculation as to why he's holding off?
Joanna At 10:18 PM 10/05/2002 -0700, you wrote: >Port Talks Resume; White House Warns of Economic Harm (Update3) > >By Karen Gullo > >San Francisco, Oct. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Talks to end the nine- day >West Coast port shutdown resumed between cargo companies and >longshoremen as the Bush administration said the contract dispute >is harming the U.S. economy. > >Representatives of shipping companies and the dockworkers union >met from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. in a San Francisco hotel today. Talks >were set to resume this evening and to continue until midnight, >federal mediator Peter Hurtgen said. A 10-day lockout may cost >the U.S. economy as much as $19.4 billion, according to a study >conducted for the carriers by consulting firm Martin Associates. > >"This is a short fuse. We all know it," Joe Miniace, chief >negotiator for the shippers, said to reporters during a break in >talks. "We've got to get something done." > >The dispute has closed 29 ports, stranding ships from Washington >to California. It has led to the shutdown of a California auto >plant run by General Motors Corp. and Toyota Motor Corp. >Agricultural goods are rotting on docks, the union said, and >retailers warned that Christmas sales are threatened. > >"The president's message to labor and management is simple: You >are hurting the economy. You are hurting other workers and unions >across the country," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said. He >wouldn't say if President George W. Bush is considering using the >Taft-Hartley Act to open the ports. > >Lockout > >The shutdown started Sept. 27, when shipping companies locked out >more than 10,000 members of the International Longshore and >Warehouse Union. The companies and the union have disagreed >during negotiations over carriers' efforts to use more computers >to handle some dock work. The union wants to retain control of >jobs affected by those changes. > >The union asked carriers today to allow dockworkers to move >perishable items such as produce. The companies yesterday >permitted shipments to Alaska and Hawaii. > >"There are grain vessels and other perishables that are just >rotting out there," said union President Jim Spinosa. "We urge >them to continue what they're doing with Alaska and Hawaii. They >need to follow it up." > >Hawaiian businesses had been cut off from the U.S. mainland. >Hawaii Governor Benjamin Cayetano wrote to the shippers and the >union this week. He said the shutdown would have "a devastating >effect on the economy and morale" of Hawaii. > >Ports could open for all shipments if the union would sign an >extension to its contract, which lapsed in July, shippers said. > >"It's as easy as signing a three-line contract extension," said >Steve Sugerman, a spokesman for the Pacific Maritime Association, >which represents shipping companies in the talks. > >Today's talks brought "some" progress, Hurtgen said this >afternoon. "Things are improving," he said. > >The federal mediator joined the negotiations Thursday.
