Rep. Darrell Issa called on President Obama Friday to order a cooling-off period if a settlement is not quickly reached in the West Coast ports slowdown.
Under the Taft-Hartley Act, the president can order both sides back to work for an 80-day cooling-off period. President George Bush invoked this power in 2002 during an earlier labor dispute.
“If an immediate settlement cannot be reached, we are calling on President Obama, through his authority under the Taft-Hartley Act, to intervene in the matter in the interest of protecting the economy,” said Issa, who represents north coastal San Diego County and south Orange County.
“We must avoid a shutdown of our West Coast ports, at all costs,” Issa said. “Failure simply is not an option. A shutdown would have potentially devastating effects on small businesses nationwide.”
U.S. Labor Secretary Thomas Perez has been taking part in the negotiations between the dockworkers’ union and port employers in San Francisco in hopes of resolving the dispute affecting operations at 29 West Coast ports.
The months-long labor talks have grown increasingly contentious in recent weeks, with the employers represented by the Pacific Maritime Association issuing orders to halt the loading and unloading of ships at all West Coast ports during the past two weekends.
An estimated 40 to 45 ships are currently waiting to unload off the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
San Diego has also been affected by the slowdown, but may benefit by getting more ship traffic. At least one container ship has reportedly been diverted from Los Angeles to San Diego.
