Mediator Joins Dockworkers Dispute

With pressure mounting from all sides, and calls for President Bush to intervene, talks are to resume Thursday between shippers and dockworkers, with the help of a federal mediator.

The mediation effort was to have begun earlier in the week, but flamed out at that time when union representatives stormed out, angered at the presence of security guards hired by management.

The Pacific Maritime Association's lockout of the 10,500 dockworkers in the International Longshore and Warehouse Union has shut down all 29 West Coast ports. Shippers contend that the lockout, imposed on Sunday, was a reaction to a rulebook slowdown by union workers.

What is definitely true is that the two sides are locked in a bitter dispute over new technology, job security, pensions and other benefits.

The West Coast Waterfront Coalition, which represents retailers and transportation companies, is urging President Bush to take whatever steps are necessary to reopen the ports.

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer would not speculate on whether President Bush would order an end to the lockout, whose cost to the national economy is estimated at $1 billion a day.

Unable to move any cargo for days, thousands of independent truckers who usually shuttle cargo to and from the ports are waiting around at transfer stations and hoping their money lasts longer than the shutdown at the nation's West Coast ports.

"I'm going to have to start figuring out ways to make some money soon," said Jorge Ramirez, 41, a short-haul trucker with a wife and four young children. "It's better to be your own boss, but right now there is no dinero. My wife is worried, I'm worried."

Cerafin Rivera, who has trucked lemons to Los Angeles-area warehouses for 12 years, said he understands the dockworkers' position but also needs to support his wife and two children on the $250 a day he earns.

"I know they have to fight, but I have work to do," he said.

In Southern California alone, more than 12,000 rigs operated by short-haul drivers and small companies are parked at cargo transfer stations throughout the region. Fearful of run-ins with picketing longshoremen, the truckers have been avoiding the docks.

Wednesday, the lockout caused the suspension of production at an auto manufacturing plant in Fremont, Calif. - a shutdown which could be mirrored at other auto plants nationwide if the ports used to import auto parts remain closed.

"A prolonged shutdown is not only going to affect your Japanese transplants but also somebody like Ford because they import parts from Asia," said Kris Pritchard, an analyst with IRN Inc. in Grand Rapids. "One critical part can bring you down if you can't get it."

That's exactly what's happening at New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. in Fremont, Calif., a joint venture between General Motors Corp. and Toyota that produces about 1,500 vehicles a day and employs 5,500.

Spokesman Michael Damer said the plant's truck and car lines were suspending production on Thursday because the operation would exhaust its vital parts, primarily engines and transmissions.

The plant, which assembles the Toyota Corolla and Tacoma and Pontiac Vibe cars, had originally planned to shut down Wednesday evening, but workers discovered a loaded freight car that allowed production to continue through the night. As for Thursday, workers were given the option of taking vacation, unpaid leave or showing up to clean the plant and take inventory.

"We're 20 miles from the Port of Oakland, so essentially the port is an extension of our assembly line," Damer said. "We bring in 30 to 40 containers a day, and we haven't had anything since last Friday."

Among the Big Three in Detroit, DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler unit said it should see no significant backlash from the work stoppage because 94 percent of its products are built in North America.

Ford imports some 360 different parts through Tacoma, Wash., Long Beach, Calif., and Oakland, Calif. The parts are used by ten assembly and four powertrain plants in North America.

In the next week, "we'll reach a point where we may have to use contingency plans," Ford spokeswoman Marcey Evans said.

Industry alternatives include receiving parts by air and finding other routes for vehicle entry into the United States - both costly ventures.

Analysts said companies with the most at stake include Toyota, Nissan and Hyundai Motor America.