Bush Preparing to Invoke Taft-Hartley to End Lockout at Pacific Ports

Since the lockout began more than a week ago, the Pacific Maritime Association has consistently told the union that it could return to work by signing a contract extension. Late last night, according to an ILWU spokesperson, the union offered the PMA just that - a seven day extension on its old contract. According to the union, the PMA refused the offer, and presented the ILWU with a contract proposal full of takeaways.

With contract talks at a stalemate, and with an estimated billion dollars of cargo piling up each day, the Bush administration is poised to intervene. This morning the President signed an executive order establishing a board of inquiry to study the economic impact of the lockout.

"The board of inquiry is chosen by the President, subpoenas witnesses, and makes a report on whether the lockout or strike is imperiling the national health and security," said Peter Olney, a former ILWU officer now with the Institute for Labor and Employment at the University of California.

Olney says that's an assessment the President's panel is likely to make, meaning the White House could soon invoke the Taft-Hartley act to order an end to the lockout for an eighty-day cooling off period. According to ILWU President James Spinoza, that’s been the PMA’s strategy all along.

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Follow the audio link to hear an interview with Peter Olney
MP3 audio - 64 kbps - 2.38 MB - 5:12