Freighter Backlog Worsens Outside Major West Coast Ports

Growing numbers of freighters were backed up around the United States' two busiest cargo hubs on Sunday due to a dispute between shipping companies and dock workers that has led to a partial shutdown of ports along the West Coast. With cargo delays rippling through the U.S. economy, President Barack Obama on Saturday dispatched U.S. Labor Secretary Tom Perez to California to help broker an agreement. Lee Peterson, a spokesman for the port of Long Beach, said that by Sunday morning, 34 container ships, tankers and other cargo vessels were waiting to dock at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, California, up from 32 on Saturday. The Obama administration's move to send Perez came after shippers vowed to prevent the loading and unloading of freight through Monday from container ships at the 29 ports, barring a settlement in talks with the dock workers' union. http://yhoo.it/17emepc http://bit.ly/1fJ5yqZ