NEWSFLASH: Retailers ask White House to help restart LA/LB port talks

   The National Retail Federation has urged President Obama “to use all means necessary” to restart stalled contract negotiations between management and striking union workers at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. 
   The International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 63 Office Clerical Unit has placed pickets outside a majority of terminals at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, and other longshoremen are refusing to cross the picket lines. As a result, ships are not being loaded or unloaded and trucks and trains cannot move containers on or off 10 terminals. 
   The Los Angeles Times reported that two ships have been diverted to other ports, one to Oakland and another to an unnamed port in Mexico.
   “A prolonged strike at the nation’s largest ports would have a devastating impact on the U.S. economy,” read a letter from NRF President and Chief Executive Officer Matthew Shay to the president. “We call upon you to use all means necessary to get the two sides back to the negotiating table.” 
   The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the letter.
   NRF noted that in 2002 a 10-day lockout at West Coast ports led to significant supply chain disruptions, which took six months to remedy, and cost the economy an estimated $1 billion a day…