Contract negotiations with longshoremen across the nation have broken down in the past week. Federal mediators seeking to avoid a walkout of thousands of East Coast and Gulf Coast dockworkers, from Massachusetts to Texas, have called a meeting of them and shipping companies. Terminal owners in the Pacific Northwest are considering a lockout and have replacement workers standing by to ensure grain exports to Asia.
[...] Coast have reached a tentative deal on a new contract with the union for longshoremen, averting a possible strike that would have crippled operations at 15 [...]