U.S. LABOR DEPARTMENT KEEPS EYE ON ILWU CONTRACT PROGRESS

U.S. LABOR DEPARTMENT KEEPS EYE ON ILWU CONTRACT PROGRESS    The Bush administration is keeping a close eye on the negotiations for a new International Longshore and Warehouse Union contract for U.S. West Coast ports.
   The ILWU contract expired on July 1. PMA and the union are expected to resume talks on August 13.
   “We want to encourage both parties to stay at the bargaining table until they reach an agreement,” said a Labor Department spokesman. “It would be irresponsible for us not to.”
   The contract involves 10,500 dockworkers, which on behalf of employer Pacific Maritime Association handle about $260 billion of cargo a year through the West Coast ports.
   Labor Department officials and their counterparts at the departments of Transportation and Commerce, and the Homeland Security Office, have formed a special task force to monitor the West Coast labor talks. The government could invoke the Taft-Hartley Act if labor talks break down into slowdowns or strikes.
   The ILWU wants the Bush administration to stay out of its negotiations with the PMA. Steve Stallone, spokesman for the ILWU, told American Shipper+ late last week that the Bush administration is putting “undue and unfair” pressure on the union.