LOS ANGELES — The labor-management standoff that is disrupting billions of dollars of international trade at West Coast seaports now centers on the future of one man who resolves workplace disputes at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
After nine months of bargaining for a new contract and weeks of partial port shutdowns, dock workers and their employers disagree on whether they should change the system for arbitrating allegations of work slowdowns, discrimination and other conflicts.
More specifically, their quarrel is focused on the man who since 2002 has arbitrated grievances in Southern California.
Three people with knowledge of the contract talks say negotiators for the dock workers union want arbitrator David Miller out, while the association representing employers will not support changes that would allow his immediate removal.
Union negotiators believe Miller favors employers in disputes, for example, claims that workers intentionally are slowing dcargo movement. In a letter to members last week, the union’s president wrote that negotiators for employers were unwilling to budge because their side benefits from the current system.
U.S. Labor Secretary Thomas Perez entered the standoff Tuesday in San Francisco, where he settled into his new mission of forging a new contract. Perez does not have legal authority to force an agreement, but outsiders hope he can coax one that would end the troubles.
