Port Dispute Continues

The  14-week long labor dispute between the operators of 29 West Coast ports from San Diego to Seattle and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) is leaving ships and cargo containers stacking up.   Shipping times have been reported to have doubled and even tripled though these locations, leaving thousands of U.S. businesses to deal with the repercussions.   Some fear the dispute will lead to a full union strike or owner lockout that shuts the ports down completely.   Such a strike last happened in 2002 and lasted for 10 days before President George W. Bush stepped in invoking the Taft-Hartley labor relations law to resume the ports running again.