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CNN Saturday Morning News

Longshoremen Lockdown Continues in West Coast Ports

Aired October 05, 2002 - 09:01   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Top story is the West Coast port lockout. At the heart of the issue, longshoremen concerned technology will make their jobs go the way of many other types of jobs that have been replaced by technology. The concern, of course, is that as this lockdown continues, an already shaky U.S. economy will be further impacted. One estimate puts it at a billion-dollar-a-day hit.
Joining us from Long Beach, California, with more on all this, CNN's Casey Wian. Hello, Casey.

CASEY WIAN, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles.

Well, negotiators continued to speak late into the night with a federal mediator, they are scheduled to resume talks again at 10:00 local time this morning, 1:00 East Coast time. Progress is described by both sides as slow.

But the mere fact that they are still talking after what is going to be the third day of federally mediated negotiations is a hopeful sign.

Another hopeful sign alluded to a little bit earlier, and that was an agreement by both sides to allow some shipments to resume to Alaska. That was a request from the governor of Alaska because, of course, that state is so dependent on imported food and other products for everything they need for daily lives.

One ship headed toward Alaska with supplies midnight local time last night. Three more are on their way within the next 24 hours or so. They are considering whether to do the same thing for Hawaii, which, of course, is in much the same situation.

One of the concerns here at the port of Long Beach and the neighboring port of Los Angeles, which together are the largest port complex in the United States, third largest in the world, is they're running out of room to put ships.

All these ships that are continuing to arrive from Asia and other places, there are now some 93 either docked at the ports or out in sea at anchorages out at sea, and they are running out of places to put them until this -- unless this thing gets settled fairly soon.

As you mentioned earlier, the White House is coming under increasing pressure from business groups to do something to intervene and get this thing settled. So far the White House has been reluctant to do so, but there are reports on the wires this morning and in the "Los Angeles Times" that the White House source -- White House sources say they are considering setting up a board of inquiry, which would be the first step toward invoking the Taft-Hartley Act, which would order both sides back to work in an 80-day cooling-off period.

Lot of business groups are hoping that happened -- hoping that happens. They are also hoping that these mediated negotiations in San Francisco, you know, bear some positive result in the next day or two.

Already, after what is going to be nearly a week of port shutdown, we're looking at a backlog of a month. If they reopened the ports tomorrow or Monday, it would take a month at least to unwind all of the goods and unload all of the goods that are stacked up here in the ports and out in harbors, Miles.

O'BRIEN: Casey, for those of us who haven't read Taft-Hartley lately, remind us. I believe the last time this was invoked was when the American Airlines pilots were thinking about a strike, I believe. Just give us an idea of the criteria that's involved here for some action by the government.

WIAN: Taft-Hartley has been used with mixed success by different presidents. Jimmy Carter tried to use it to break a coal miners' -- I don't want to say break a strike, to settle a coal miners' dispute back in the '70s. That was not successful because a federal judge would not allow Taft-Hartley to go forward, he said it was not a national emergency.

So they do have to get approval from a -- the federal courts to show that it's a natural -- national emergency. I don't think there's any doubt that they could probably do that in this case, because some estimates are that there's $2 billion a day in economic damage to the country.

O'BRIEN: All right, CNN's Casey Wian. Two billion dollars, possibly that estimate, that's a big hit. We'll be watching this story as it unfolds. We appreciate your efforts in the wee dark hours there in Long Beach, California.

WIAN: OK.

O'BRIEN: Catherine.

CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: As Casey just said, the president is indeed looking at the possibility of establishing a board to look into the economic impact of the West Coast dock shutdown.

Let's go to Suzanne Malveaux, who is with the president in Maine -- Suzanne.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the president hasn't yet decided just how involved he's going to get with this. But White House aides are considering appointing a board of inquiry. As mentioned before, under Taft-Hartley, this board would try to determine just what is the cost to the U.S. economy, as well as whether or not both sides are negotiating in good faith.

And the president could make his case in federal court, as was mentioned before. If granted, he could actually enforce an 80-day cooling-off period if the administration decided to get involved on that level.

The Bush administration, their philosophy, has really been to kind of hands-off approach, let the open markets run their course. But again, this looks like a very, very serious situation, so they are considering whether or not they are going to appoint that board of inquiry.

CALLAWAY: Suzanne, what else is the president working on this weekend? He has a big speech coming up Monday.

MALVEAUX: Well, exactly. The president is here at Kennebunkport. His family has stayed for the weekend. He is also taking a trip to New Hampshire, he's doing a little bit of campaigning and fund-raising for Republican senatorial candidate John Sununu.

But he's going to spend a good deal of the weekend working on that speech. It's going to be a prime-time speech Monday evening to the American people. It is basically making the case against Saddam Hussein, why he's a threat not only to the United States but also to the world.

You may know as well, there was a significant development that happened yesterday, really a breakthrough for the administration. That's when the chief of U.N. weapons inspections, Hans Blix, announced that yes, he does believe there needs to be a new U.N. resolution before those inspectors go back inside of Iraq. This is something that was significant for the administration that Secretary of State Colin Powell as well as national security adviser Condoleezza Rice meeting with Hans Blix, really making that point.

CALLAWAY: All right, Suzanne. Suzanne Malveaux joining us from Kennebunkport, Maine. Thanks, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired October 5, 2002 - 09:01   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Top story is the West Coast port lockout. At the heart of the issue, longshoremen concerned technology will make their jobs go the way of many other types of jobs that have been replaced by technology. The concern, of course, is that as this lockdown continues, an already shaky U.S. economy will be further impacted. One estimate puts it at a billion-dollar-a-day hit.
Joining us from Long Beach, California, with more on all this, CNN's Casey Wian. Hello, Casey.

CASEY WIAN, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles.

Well, negotiators continued to speak late into the night with a federal mediator, they are scheduled to resume talks again at 10:00 local time this morning, 1:00 East Coast time. Progress is described by both sides as slow.

But the mere fact that they are still talking after what is going to be the third day of federally mediated negotiations is a hopeful sign.

Another hopeful sign alluded to a little bit earlier, and that was an agreement by both sides to allow some shipments to resume to Alaska. That was a request from the governor of Alaska because, of course, that state is so dependent on imported food and other products for everything they need for daily lives.

One ship headed toward Alaska with supplies midnight local time last night. Three more are on their way within the next 24 hours or so. They are considering whether to do the same thing for Hawaii, which, of course, is in much the same situation.

One of the concerns here at the port of Long Beach and the neighboring port of Los Angeles, which together are the largest port complex in the United States, third largest in the world, is they're running out of room to put ships.

All these ships that are continuing to arrive from Asia and other places, there are now some 93 either docked at the ports or out in sea at anchorages out at sea, and they are running out of places to put them until this -- unless this thing gets settled fairly soon.

As you mentioned earlier, the White House is coming under increasing pressure from business groups to do something to intervene and get this thing settled. So far the White House has been reluctant to do so, but there are reports on the wires this morning and in the "Los Angeles Times" that the White House source -- White House sources say they are considering setting up a board of inquiry, which would be the first step toward invoking the Taft-Hartley Act, which would order both sides back to work in an 80-day cooling-off period.

Lot of business groups are hoping that happened -- hoping that happens. They are also hoping that these mediated negotiations in San Francisco, you know, bear some positive result in the next day or two.

Already, after what is going to be nearly a week of port shutdown, we're looking at a backlog of a month. If they reopened the ports tomorrow or Monday, it would take a month at least to unwind all of the goods and unload all of the goods that are stacked up here in the ports and out in harbors, Miles.

O'BRIEN: Casey, for those of us who haven't read Taft-Hartley lately, remind us. I believe the last time this was invoked was when the American Airlines pilots were thinking about a strike, I believe. Just give us an idea of the criteria that's involved here for some action by the government.

WIAN: Taft-Hartley has been used with mixed success by different presidents. Jimmy Carter tried to use it to break a coal miners' -- I don't want to say break a strike, to settle a coal miners' dispute back in the '70s. That was not successful because a federal judge would not allow Taft-Hartley to go forward, he said it was not a national emergency.

So they do have to get approval from a -- the federal courts to show that it's a natural -- national emergency. I don't think there's any doubt that they could probably do that in this case, because some estimates are that there's $2 billion a day in economic damage to the country.

O'BRIEN: All right, CNN's Casey Wian. Two billion dollars, possibly that estimate, that's a big hit. We'll be watching this story as it unfolds. We appreciate your efforts in the wee dark hours there in Long Beach, California.

WIAN: OK.

O'BRIEN: Catherine.

CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: As Casey just said, the president is indeed looking at the possibility of establishing a board to look into the economic impact of the West Coast dock shutdown.

Let's go to Suzanne Malveaux, who is with the president in Maine -- Suzanne.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the president hasn't yet decided just how involved he's going to get with this. But White House aides are considering appointing a board of inquiry. As mentioned before, under Taft-Hartley, this board would try to determine just what is the cost to the U.S. economy, as well as whether or not both sides are negotiating in good faith.

And the president could make his case in federal court, as was mentioned before. If granted, he could actually enforce an 80-day cooling-off period if the administration decided to get involved on that level.

The Bush administration, their philosophy, has really been to kind of hands-off approach, let the open markets run their course. But again, this looks like a very, very serious situation, so they are considering whether or not they are going to appoint that board of inquiry.

CALLAWAY: Suzanne, what else is the president working on this weekend? He has a big speech coming up Monday.

MALVEAUX: Well, exactly. The president is here at Kennebunkport. His family has stayed for the weekend. He is also taking a trip to New Hampshire, he's doing a little bit of campaigning and fund-raising for Republican senatorial candidate John Sununu.

But he's going to spend a good deal of the weekend working on that speech. It's going to be a prime-time speech Monday evening to the American people. It is basically making the case against Saddam Hussein, why he's a threat not only to the United States but also to the world.

You may know as well, there was a significant development that happened yesterday, really a breakthrough for the administration. That's when the chief of U.N. weapons inspections, Hans Blix, announced that yes, he does believe there needs to be a new U.N. resolution before those inspectors go back inside of Iraq. This is something that was significant for the administration that Secretary of State Colin Powell as well as national security adviser Condoleezza Rice meeting with Hans Blix, really making that point.

CALLAWAY: All right, Suzanne. Suzanne Malveaux joining us from Kennebunkport, Maine. Thanks, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com