The contract covering about 950 office clerical workers at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach expires at midnight Wednesday, and it does not appear that an agreement will be reached by the deadline.
“I’m not optimistic at all about reaching an agreement by June 30,” said John Fageaux, president of the Office Clerical Unit of International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 63.
Fageaux said job security is the key issue in the contract negotiations. Employers want to implement technology that would allow workers overseas to perform duties now handled by OCU members, thereby downsizing the ranks of the union, he said.