President Bush decided Oct. 8 to seek a court injunction to reopen West Coast ports for 80 days, intervening in a dispute that has cost the economy as much as $2 billion a day, AP reported.

"The work stoppage is hurting our entire economy," Bush said outside the Oval Office. "It is hurting truckers and rail operators who carry goods to other parts of America. It's hurting farmers and ranchers and manufacturers, retailers and consumers who make, buy and sell the products that pass through our ports."

Bush's speech nearly coincided with an announcement by the dockworkers' union agreeing to an 11-hour truce proposed by Labor Department officials to return to work for 30 days under the terms of the expired contract.

White House advisers reportedly opted for the chance to do something about a standoff between the shipping lines and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) in an effort to ease concerns about Bush's handling of the economy.

Politics aside, the move came as welcome news to OOIDA members Jim and Athena Shannon, who have been stuck at the Port of Oakland since Saturday night with 36,000 pounds of pork bound for the Orient. The Shannons, independent truckers from Nevada, say each day costs them between $600-$800.

The couple delivers meat to the port every week. They were due to unload Monday morning, but the port was closed Sunday by the Pacific Maritime Association as a result of the standoff with the ILWU.

On Oct. 8, the couple drove to Englewood, CA, to forward the meat for shipment to Los Angeles International Airport.

"The freight forwarder told me he was overwhelmed," Jim Shannon said. "They didn't have enough shipping containers and so it looks like we'll have to wait until tomorrow for our truck to be offloaded." He said the talk around the Port of Oakland was of an estimated three-week backlog before things return to normal.

Meanwhile, Oakland news sources estimated about 2,600 trucks were jammed up at the 29 ports along the West Coast. Additionally, published reports said more than 12,000 rigs operated by short-haul drivers in Southern California were parked at cargo transfer stations throughout the region. Afraid of a run-in with picketing longshoremen, drivers avoided the docks.

The Pacific Maritime Association, which represents shipping companies and terminal operators, locked out 10,500 members of the longshoremen's union last week, claiming the dockworkers were engaging in a slowdown.

The longshoremen's contract expired July 1, although it had been extended several times before Labor Day. The sticking point in negotiations is whether jobs created by new technology will be unionized. The average full-time dock worker in the ILWU grosses $80,000 a year. According to an AP report, the most experienced foremen can earn $167,000.
--Dick Larsen, senior editor