Dock clerks, employers reach contract deal

Published Friday, July 27, 2007

LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) - Port clerks and their employers at the nation’s largest port complex tentatively agreed on a new contract yesterday, preventing a strike that could have crippled shipping and cost billions of dollars, a negotiator said.

"The employers are pleased that the union recognized the substantial investment that" employers "have made and agreed to their last wage proposal," said Steve Berry, a negotiator for the shippers.

John Fageaux Jr., president of the union local, said he was satisfied with the tentative agreement.

At a news conference where workers clapped and cheered, Fageaux described days of virtually nonstop negotiations that nearly dead-ended without a deal. The clerks union previously threatened to go on strike if no deal was reached by July 16, but talks continued after the deadline.

"We were prepared to walk," Fageaux said.