Labour negotiators for dockworkers and some of the world's biggest shipping lines open talks today on a new contract with the aim of avoiding the kind of bitter dispute that paralysed West Coast ports for 10 days in 2002.
The Los Angeles Times reports that with 14 weeks to go before the current agreement expires, this marks the earliest start yet for contract talks between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association, both based in San Francisco.
The nation's retailers are likely to be looking for any positive signal given the weakness of the US economy and the key role that the 29 West Coast ports play in international trade.
The San Pedro port complex of Los Angeles and Long Beach accounts for 40 percent of US cargo container traffic and 12 percent of Southern California's economic activity.
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