Labour deal in US averts shutdown of 29 West Coast ports

Los Angeles

WEST COAST dockworkers and their employers ended their nine-month standoff with a five-year contract deal, averting a shutdown of 29 ports that could have cost the US economy US$2 billion a day.

"This is now in the rear-view mirror," Labor Secretary Tom Perez told reporters late on Friday outside the San Francisco headquarters of the Pacific Maritime Association, which had been locked in the contract battle with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union. "A significant potential headwind for this economic recovery has been removed."