By Lucas Iberico Lozada
(Reuters) - Representatives from major U.S. manufacturing and shipping trade groups met with White House officials this week to ask for a federal negotiator to intervene in a months-long labor dispute that has slowed West Coast ports ahead of the holiday season, according to sources present at the meeting.
Obama administration officials did not agree to a timeline or commit to introducing a negotiator, the sources said, though a representative from the National Retail Federation described the near hour-long meeting as a "good discussion." Representatives for the National Association of Manufacturers, the Toy Industry Association and the Consumer Electronics Association were also present.
The dispute centers on ongoing contract negotiations between maritime shippers and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), which represents 20,000 West Coast full- and part-time dockworkers. A six-year contract expired this July.
Neither the Pacific Maritime Association, which represents the shippers, nor the ILWU were present at Wednesday's meeting, though both were aware that it took place.
"These kind of meetings are fairly routine when important contract negotiations are under way," said Craig Merrilees, ILWU spokesman. "The ILWU remains focused on negotiating a fair settlement as quickly as possible."
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Negotiations, which began in May, have become acrimonious in recent days as cargo congestion has built up at the two busiest U.S. container ports in advance of peak cargo season.
Management has accused the union of organizing work slowdowns while labor officials cite other factors contributing to delays such as a shortage of unloading equipment and unusually high cargo traffic at the Los Angeles and Long Beach, California, docks.
On Wednesday, the six U.S. senators from California, Washington and Oregon sent an open letter to both sides, asking them to resolve the contract negotiations in order to ensure the "health, safety and economic well-being of the 13,600 longshore, clerk, and foreman workers ... as well as for companies large and small, agriculture producers, ports, and international buyers around the world."
(Reporting by Lucas Iberico Lozada in New York; editing by Matthew Lewis)