| U.S. West Coast
Ports Set to Reopen |
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(Toronto, October 9, 2002)…
On Tuesday, October 8, the U.S.
Federal Court ordered an immediate halt to the management
lockout of union longshoremen at 29 U.S. West Coast ports.
The Pacific Maritime Association has stated it would
order workers to report to shifts starting at 6 p.m. on
Wednesday, October 9.
The court determined the government had met the requirements
for an injunction to reopen the ports and issued a temporary
restraining order which expires October 16. At
that time, the court is expected to impose the 80 day cooling-off
period, as mandated by the Taft-Hartley Act. This
action would keep the ports open through the crucial Christmas
season.
Please be advised that while cargo will begin to move this
evening, we do expect considerable delays for both import
and export traffic. It is expected to take as long
as two months to clear the backlog of cargo from more than
200 vessels now idled offshore or berthed at various ports.
For more information, please call (905) 882-4880 David
Lychek, Manager – Ocean Services.
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