Thursday, October 10, 2002
Re: West Coast Ports Update

Dear NASA Member:

West Coast Ports are scheduled to reopen today at 6:00pm PST. President Bush has invoked Taft-Hartley, which now forces an 80 day cooling off period and also forces federal mediation while the two sides negotiate.
The ILWU tried for a last minute 30 day extension of the existing contract yesterday, but this was rejected by the PMA.

Vessels will be worked based on their order of arrival at the ports and import cargo will be given first priority. No export cargo will be accepted until some of the congestion and backlog at the ports has been cleared. Estimates still range anywhere from 4 to 10 weeks to bring the ports back to normal operations. We will keep you informed about the movement of your cargo as soon as we are able to gain reliable information from the lines. Thank you for your continued support of the North American Shippers Association.

Kind regards,
Judy Mannix, Administrator
North American Shippers Association