Cargo is moving without interruption at 29 West Coast ports despite the expiration of a contract that covered more than 25,000 dockworkers and their employers.The contract expired Tuesday. Negotiators for the International Longshore Warehouse Workers Union and the Pacific Maritime Association continue with talks that, after nearly four months, have failed to produce an accord on wages, pensions, safety and productivity issues. A notice on the union's Web site said its members would continue to work without a contract.The 29 West Coast ports generate nearly $1.3 trillion in domestic business impacts, representing 11 percent of the total U.S. gross domestic product. So says the San Francisco-based Pacific Maritime Association, which represents 71 cargo carriers, terminal operators and stevedores on the West Coast.Contract talks began March 17 with the intent of settling before Tuesday's expiration date. There is a tentative agreement on health-care benefits but not on other major economic and safety issues. Neither side will publicly discuss details of their proposals.Both sides said they do not want a repeat of the labor unrest that surrounded the 2002 negotiations. It resulted in workers being locked out of the ports for 10 days and billions of dollars in economic losses.(E-mail George Raine of the San Francisco Chronicle at graine(at)sfchronicle.com.)(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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