Home   >   Business   >   Most US West Coast ports bustling again after labor deal

Most US West Coast ports bustling again after labor deal

February 23, 2015
A cargo container ship operated by Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp. sits docked at the Port of Tacoma, Friday, Feb. 20, 2015, in Tacoma, Wash. With a Friday deadline looming, negotiators for the two sides in the contract dispute that has snarled international trade at U.S. West Coast seaports are laboring to reach a settlement as billions of dollars of cargo are sitting massive ocean-going ships anchored outside port facilities. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

A cargo container ship operated by Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp. sits docked at the Port of Tacoma, Friday, Feb. 20, 2015, in Tacoma, Wash. With a Friday deadline looming, negotiators for the two sides in the contract dispute that has snarled international trade at U.S. West Coast seaports are laboring to reach a settlement as billions of dollars of cargo are sitting massive ocean-going ships anchored outside port facilities. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Nearly all West Coast seaports began the week with dockworkers hustling to load and unload cargo ships that were held up amid a months-long labor-management dispute.

The exception Monday was the Port of Oakland, where problems persisted three days after negotiators for the dockworkers’ union and for employers reached a new contract covering all 29 West Coast ports.

Port of Oakland spokesman Mike Zampa said nine ships are at berth, ready for cranes to move cargo, but only one ship was being worked due to a temporary shortage of experienced crane operators.

At other West Coast ports, work was back to normal.

The job of restoring the free flow of international trade will take at least two months at the ports that handle roughly one-quarter of U.S. international trade.