The nation’s top labor official flew Monday to California in an attempt to resolve a damaging contract dispute between West Coast dockworkers and their employers.
U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez headed for San Francisco, where months-long negotiations between the dockworkers union and a maritime association of companies have come to a halt.
The maritime association says average wages exceed $50 an hour; the union says wages are set between $26 to $36 an hour — though many shifts carry a premium over that range.
