A West Coast arbitrator this week ruled that dockworkers at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach would not violate their contracts if they honored picket lines set up by clerical employees who have worked without a labor pact for nearly two years.
The ruling overturns a previous decision that forced local longshore workers back to work on Dec. 2, when they honored a strike staged by unionized clerical workers.
The clerks’ walk-out was initially deemed to be “non bona fide,” but was immediately appealed by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union.