SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Shipping companies and terminal operators reached a tentative deal on Friday with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union on a new contract for 20,000 dockworkers at 29 U.S. West Coast ports, capping months of contentious labor talks, a source close to the negotiations told Reuters.
The deal, reached after the U.S. labor secretary joined in the bargaining, settles a dispute that has led to chronic cargo backups hampering dockyards that handle nearly half of U.S. maritime trade and more than 70 percent of imports from Asia.
(Reporting by Ann Saphir; Additional reporting and writing by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Sandra Maler)
