West Coast dockers and maritime employers have yet to sign a labour contract as the terms of the six-year pact expired, but both sides have pledged to conclude the matter peacefully.
The Associated Press reported the ILWU and PMA have yet to reach agreement on the issues of wages, pension, safety and productivity, while a tentative agreement has been reached on health care benefits.
International Longshore and Warehousing Union (ILWU) spokesman Craig Merrilees told AP that workers would remain on the job while negotiations continued.
"There's really no choice but to keep working and get it done," he said.
This marks a departure from 2002, when longshoremen staged a 10-day port lockout after a series of heated labour disputes broke out between the two sides and resulted in an estimated economic loss of US$15 billion.
Steve Getzug, spokesman for the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), which represents over 70 west coast shippers, said that everyone was continuing to work hard to reach a conclusion to the contract negotiations.
"What's important here is that the PMA and the union are committed to resolving the outstanding issues at the table," he said, adding that in the meantime "we intend to keep the ports open and running smoothly".
Shippers claim that the average full-time dockworker earned $136,000 in 2007, however the union argues that this figure applied to just 10,000 of the 25,000 employees covered by the ILWU.
Negotiations began on March 17, while 100 members of the ILWU are expected to meet on July 14 to review the terms of any proposed contract before it is sent for a final vote by all members, according to The Los Angeles Daily Breeze.
The twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, which handled 12.2 million TEU in 2007, currently handle 40 per cent of the nation's cargo throughput.
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