Clerical workers strike at major US ports

Clerical workers went on strike at the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports on Thursday to press their demand for job security, Xinhua reported.

Organisers said they expected the strike to deal a blow to the nation's busiest port complex as all critical paperwork came to stop.

Containers not being unloaded could mean millions of lost dollars a day, and delay goods from reaching stores across the country.

But ships were still being loaded and unloaded at the docks, a port spokesman said.

"The port is still operating, fully functioning," Los Angeles port spokesman Phillip Sanfield said. "Several of the terminals have no pickets on site at all. A couple of the terminals have three or four."

Only about 30 people from the workers' 900-strong union were picketing outside terminals, according to Sanfield.

The clerical workers staged the strike following a failure to reach agreement with a coalition of international shipping companies before a labour contract expired earlier in the week.
(Source:www.cargonewsasia.com)