Clerical workers who struck the nation’s busiest port complex for 11 days returned to work Monday after arbitrators’ rulings said their union was negotiating in bad faith with shipping companies.
The rulings “made it impossible” for the more than 10,000 longshoremen at the ports to respect the picket lines, ILWU spokesman Craig Merrilees said. Managers handled the clerks’ workload during the strike, so there was no significant disruption to shipping.
Merrilees said the union was appealing the arbitrators’ decisions. Contract talks resumed Monday afternoon following a weekend break.