Negotiator says little progress in contract talks with striking LA-Long Beach port clerks

Talks resume but progress slow in LA port strike

LOS ANGELES — There has been “little progress” despite hours of late-night and weekend talks between striking clerical workers and shipping companies at the nation’s busiest port, negotiators said Saturday.

Stephen Berry, lead negotiator for the Harbor Employees Association, which represents the shippers, said talks for much of the strike’s third day at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach stalled over union demands he said would “force employers to hire temporary and permanent workers even when there is no work for them to perform.”

Berry said in a statement that the provisions sought were “unacceptable, and run counter to the employers’ efforts to reach fair and reasonable contracts.”

Several calls Saturday to John Fageaux Jr., president of the International Longshore Warehouse Union local that represents about 900 clerical workers, were not returned.

He has said workers’ primary worry is that their jobs may be outsourced as shippers seek to use new computer programs allowing customers to access booking information.

The striking workers handle critical paperwork for shipment at the nation’s busiest port complex. Their work is usually completed several days before a ship arrives, so it could take as long as a week before the strike causes serious disruptions in shipping.

The clerks have been picketing outside several terminals operated by the 14 shipping companies since their contract expired on Thursday.