US shippers turn to air freight amid port labour dispute

Los Angeles

MANUFACTURERS and retailers are stockpiling goods and taking steps to bypass US West Coast ports amid a labour dispute that the facilities' operators say threatens a shutdown disrupting more than 40 per cent of US trade.

Cargo piling up amid stalled talks with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) pushed the 29 ports to the brink of a "coast-wide meltdown", said James McKenna, president of the Pacific Maritime Association, the trade group of shippers and terminal operators.