President Obama Deploys Labor Secretary To Intervene In West Coast Port Dispute
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) -- The nation's top labor official was scheduled to arrive in the Bay Area Monday to sit down with both sides of the contentious west coast port dispute sometime on Tuesday.
U.S. Secretary of Labor Tom Perez was encouraged by President Obama over the weekend to get involved in this issue, where negotiations between the dockworkers union and a maritime association of companies have come to a halt.
These high-level meetings are scheduled to take part in San Francisco, but the details of when and where are still up in the air.
The processing of billions of dollars of cargo due to pass through 29 seaports from Southern California to Seattle, including Oakland has slowed to a crawl in recent weeks. Over the holiday weekend, companies locked out workers who would normally load or unload ships.
Imports are stuck on massive vessels lined up outside the ports. Off Los Angeles and Long Beach, for example, 33 were waiting space at the docks.
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