A labor dispute with the potential to shut down much of the nation’s busiest seaport complex may drag for weeks as the maritime clerks union and employers argue about a little-known agreement reached during the depth of the global recession.
The two sides at the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports are still far apart in their negotiations on a contract to replace the one that expired June 30, which prompted a clerk walkout at four container terminals.
On Friday, the 900-member clerical union expanded picketing to a fifth container terminal, temporarily interrupting dock operations. But an arbitrator reiterated an earlier ruling that the clerks’ picket lines were invalid, and longshoremen, who had briefly honored the picket line, returned to work.
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