SIMIC

LOS ANGELES and Long Beach dockers have staged a campaign of go-slows by declaring equipment unsafe to operate, a practice known as "red-tagging", reports New York's Journal of Commerce.
Members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 13 in recent days have been "red-tagging" cargo-handling equipment at Los Angeles and Long Beach's three automated terminals.
Designating equipment as unsafe and necessitating inspections, results in time-consuming delays, forcing terminals to cancel shifts. The union refused to comment.
While focusing mostly on automated terminals this week, slow-downs elsewhere have been sporadic. Some manual facilities were targeted earlier in the week, while others were not.
"Together, these illegal work actions have disrupted activities at some of the largest and most active terminals in the United States, which play a critical role in the movement of cargo to and from markets throughout the nation," said the employers of the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA).
All of which indicate the two sides remain far apart on settling a contract as May 10 marks the anniversary of the start of negotiations last year.
Negotiations were not held this week because some ILWU officers were attending a convention, sources said. The ILWU international declined comment.