WEST COAST PORTS LOCKOUT CONTINUES; ILWU WALKS OUT OF MEETING

WEST COAST PORTS LOCKOUT CONTINUES; ILWU WALKS OUT OF MEETING    The Pacific Maritime Association's lockout of dockworkers at 29 U.S. West Coast ports continued Tuesday, and attempts to discuss possible mediation between port employers and the International Longshore & Warehouse Union quickly broke down.
   Scheduled talks early Tuesday with the PMA, Federal Mediation and Conciliation Services head Peter Hurtgen, and the ILWU in Oakland ended abruptly when the union accused the association of bringing two 'gun-toting security guards' to the meeting.
   'The ILWU officers were asked by Hurtgen to discuss a possible government-mediated solution to the PMA lockout,' the ILWU said.
   Published reports said President Bush is not yet prepared to invoke his powers under the Taft-Hartley Act, which would force the two sides back to work for an 80-day cooling-off period.
   Bush suggested in comments Tuesday that mediation was viewed as a best option to bring an end to the labor dispute. An ILWU spokesman said that, the union's walking out of the meeting did not indicated whether it was for or against mediation.
   Tom Edwards, PMA negotiator, said Monday, 'If there was ever any doubt that mediation was necessary, that question has now been answered with the events of the past week.' The PMA said it said it accepted the invitation of a federal mediator to attend a meeting with the union Thursday in Washington, D.C.
   The two sides had negotiated for two months after the existing contract ended June 30, through agreed-upon contract extensions.
   However, employers said the PMA has refused to sign contract extensions since Sept. 2, and, prior to the lockouts, had been engaging in work slowdowns that cut terminal productivity by 50 to 80 percent, the association said.
   'The union can only stage these work actions legally if there is no contract in place,' the PMA said. 'The union's slowdown tactics are illegal under the contract.'
   The lockout was temporarily lifted Sunday but was reinstated later that day.
   The PMA said it would lift the lockout when the ILWU agreed to sign a contract extension.
   Technology, which employers have argued is the key issue since before the last contract was approved in 1999, continues to be the key stumbling block in negotiations.
   Edwards said late Monday that the union presented employers with a comprehensive pension document 'and told us that technology is off the table.'
   'Technology cannot be taken off the table,' Edwards said. 'It is the core issue in these talks. We must modernize our terminals and bring our waterfront into the 21st century.
   James Spinosa, ILWU president, said the union is ready to go back to work and to get back to the table. He called the lockout 'an irresponsible approach to bargaining.'
   Spinosa said the PMA 'holds this particular bargaining session hostage to a technology package that they cannot deliver.'
   The PMA said it has guaranteed job protection for every registered worker who may be impacted by technology, a point that the ILWU disputes.
   The association said the offer it has placed on the table 'would make the members of the ILWU among the highest-paid workers in America.'
   According to the PMA, the offer would raise the average salaries for longshoremen and marine clerks to $114,500 and $137,500, respectively.