Tentative Deal Reached for U.S. West Coast Ports, Subject to Ratification
SEAFOODNEWS.COM [Reuters] By Steve Gorman - February 21, 2015
A group of shipping companies and a powerful dockworkers union reached a tentative labor deal late on Friday after nine months of negotiations, settling a dispute that disrupted the flow of cargo through 29 U.S. West Coast ports and snarled trans-Pacific maritime trade with Asia.
The agreement, confirmed in a joint statement by the two sides, was reached three days after U.S. Labor Secretary Thomas Perez arrived in San Francisco to broker a deal with the help of a federal mediator who had joined the talks six weeks earlier.
Perez said that as part of Friday's accord, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the shippers' bargaining agent, the Pacific Maritime Association, agreed to fully restore all port operations starting Saturday evening.
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