$100/Hour Fight Closes West Coast Ports

Nearly 30 West Coast seaports are being forced to shut down for the next four to five days due to a labor dispute with longshore unions. The 29 seaports handle $1 trillion of goods annually, making the shutdown highly costly if it continues. Employers are refusing to meet the demands of longshore unions, which include raising salaries to nearly $100 an hour for the highest paid workers, according to Pacific Maritime Association spokesman Steve Getzug. Employers also say the longshore workers have been staging slowdowns since November, which has further contributed to the dispute.