LOS ANGELES — Negotiators trying to reach a new contract covering workers at West Coast seaports, which handle about $1 trillion worth of cargo annually, have resolved a key dispute in the difficult talks, an association representing employers said Monday.
Dockworkers continued to move containers after the contract expired in July, but in the fall disputes at the bargaining table spilled into the workplace and cargo has struggled to cross ports that account for about one-quarter of the nation’s international trade.
Agricultural exporters say they can’t get perishables to market, while importers of furniture and other consumer products say their goods are sitting on the docks.
The new agreement addresses neither wages nor pensions, but what would seem an ancillary issue — who maintains and repairs the truck beds used to haul containers of cargo from dockside yards to distribution warehouses. Chassis repair became a big stumbling block, however, because automation at seaports could take jobs — and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union wants to find new members where it can.
