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West Coast ports fall quiet amid labor dispute

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Seaports in major West Coast cities are unusually quiet today.

Companies that operate marine terminals didn’t call workers to unload ships that carry cargo made in Asia for U.S. consumers. Containers of U.S. exports aren’t getting loaded either.

Today’s partial lockout is the result of an increasingly damaging labor dispute between dockworkers and their employers. Stalled contract talks have all but paralyzed 29 ports that handle about one-quarter of U.S. international trade.

Terminal operators and shipping companies accuse the longshoremen of slowing the pace of their work as a pressure tactic. The workers deny it.

The 15 ships scheduled to arrive today at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach will join a line of about 20 others anchored off the coast, waiting for berths at the docks to clear. There are also clusters of ships outside the ports of Oakland, and Seattle and Tacoma in Washington.

Normal operations are scheduled tomorrow.

Meanwhile, negotiations resumed today in San Francisco for the first time in a week.

Sound: Upcoming

%@AP Links

APPHOTO CABM104: A container ship is guided by tugboats as it arrives at the Port of Oakland to be unloaded Thursday, Feb. 12, 2015, in Oakland, Calif. Companies that operate marine terminals didn’t call workers to unload ships Thursday that carry car parts, furniture, clothing, electronics, just about anything made in Asia and destined for U.S. consumers. The partial lockout is the result of an increasingly damaging labor dispute between dockworkers and their employers. The two sides have been negotiating a new contract, and stalled talks have all but paralyzed 29 ports that handle about one-quarter of U.S. international trade, around $1 trillion worth of cargo annually. (AP Photo/Ben Margot) (12 Feb 2015)

<<APPHOTO CABM104 (02/12/15)££

APPHOTO CABM103: Container ships wait at the dock to be unloaded at the Port of Oakland Thursday, Feb. 12, 2015, in Oakland, Calif. Companies that operate marine terminals didn’t call workers to unload ships Thursday that carry car parts, furniture, clothing, electronics, just about anything made in Asia and destined for U.S. consumers. The partial lockout is the result of an increasingly damaging labor dispute between dockworkers and their employers. The two sides have been negotiating a new contract, and stalled talks have all but paralyzed 29 ports that handle about one-quarter of U.S. international trade, around $1 trillion worth of cargo annually. (AP Photo/Ben Margot) (12 Feb 2015)

<<APPHOTO CABM103 (02/12/15)££

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